如雷贯耳
rú​léi​guàn'ěr

renowned

如 rú be like

Original meaning: obey

Depicts a woman (女) obeying spoken (口) orders. Based on the original meaning "obey". The meaning later shifted to "be similar" and "like". 女 also serves as a sound component.

Components

女
女 SoundIconic component
nǚ, nü woman
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

恕絮茹洳铷

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnyona go to
nyona as, like, if

說文解字

《說文》：“如，从隨也。从女，从口。”

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)

雷 léi thunder

Depicts rain (雨) and lightning (申) together.

Components

雨
雨 Iconic component
yǔ rain
申
申 Iconic component
shēn to extend

Depicts a lightning bolt. Modern form looks like unrelated 田.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 申 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

蕾擂镭檑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlwojC.rˤuj thunder

說文解字

《說文》：“靁，陰陽薄動，靁雨生物者也，从雨，畾象回轉形。，古文靁。，古文靁。，籀文，靁間有回，回，靁聲也。”

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)

贯 guàn a string of 1000 coins Simplified

Simplified form of 貫. Depicts a string of shells (貝), which were used as currency in ancient China.

Components

毌
毌 SoundIconic component
guàn pierce through

Depicts a string through a shell (貝).

贝
贝 Iconic component
bèi sea shell

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

惯掼

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

耳 ěr ear

Pictograph of an ear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 29 verified)

联职闻聪聊耸耻聘耽聋聆珥耷聒聩聃佴聱聽聍耵聲聞聯職聰聵聾聳

Sound (0 of 7 verified)

饵茸珥洱铒佴餌

Iconic (5)

取聂聖聶咠

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

耿恥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyiXC.nəʔ ear
nyiXnəʔ #NAME?

說文解字

《說文》：“耳，主聽也。象形。”

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)

貫 guàn a string of 1000 coins Traditional

Depicts a string of shells (貝), which were used as currency in ancient China.

Components

毌
毌 SoundIconic component
guàn pierce through

Depicts a string through a shell (貝).

貝
貝 Iconic component
bèi sea shell

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1)

實

Sound (1)

慣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwankˤo[n] pass through the center
kwanHkˤon-s pass through the center

說文解字

《說文》：“貫，錢貝之貫。从毌、貝。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.593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)