練
liàn HSK2

practice

← Back to history
approved by Peter Olson · Sep 1, 2021, 09:16 PM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Sep 1, 2021, 09:16 PM

verify

Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources

Original meaning: boil and scour raw silk

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 柬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "boil and scour raw silk" to make it softer and whiter. The meaning later shifted to "to make perfect" and "to practice".

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component

糹 is a component form of 糸.

Change in meaning
糹 hints at the original meaning of 練, "boil and scour raw silk", which is no longer the most common meaning of 練 in modern Mandarin.
柬
柬 Sound component

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlenH[r]ˤen-s sized white silk

說文解字

《說文》：“練，湅繒也。从糸，柬聲。”

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)