八角茴香
bā​jiǎo​huí​xiāng

star anise

八 bā eight

Original meaning: separate

Pictograph of two lines facing away from each other. The current meaning "eight" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "separate" is now written as 別.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (7 of 8 verified)

分公半兑兮胤廛兌

Sound (3 of 4 verified)

分叭趴扒

Distinguishing (4)

尚柬酋㒸

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

詹畟

Unknown (1 of 2 verified)

兮圙

Simplified (1)

兑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpeatpˤret eight

說文解字

《說文》：“八，別也。象分別相背之形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

角 jiǎo, jué horn

Pictograph of a horn.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 12 verified)

触觯觥觞觳觚觫觸觱觖觜觴

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

确粟斛桷

Iconic (3)

解衡𢍱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkaewkC.[k]ˤrok horn, corner

說文解字

《說文》：“角，獸角也。象形，角與刀魚相似。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

茴 huí fennel

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 回 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

回
回 Sound component
huí return

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡuːl

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

香 xiāng fragrant

Represents the sweet (甘) smell of fresh grain (禾).

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
甘
甘 Meaning component
gān sweetness

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

馨馥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjangqʰaŋ fragrance

說文解字

《說文》：“香，芳也。从黍，从甘。《春秋傳》曰：‘黍稷馨香。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)