美国能源部
Měi​guó Néng​yuán​bù

US Energy Department

美 měi beautiful

Pictograph of a person with ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

Components

羊
羊 Iconic component
yáng sheep

Depicts ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Used here as a pictograph of a person.


Character Evolution

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 Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

镁鎂

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

羹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmijX[m]rəjʔ beautiful

說文解字

《說文》：“美，甘也。从羊，从大。”

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)

国 guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
玉
玉 SoundSimplified component
yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

能 néng to be able

Original meaning: bear

Pictograph of a bear. Based on the original meaning "bear". The meaning of this character has shifted over time to mean "strong" and "ability, power". Original form of 熊.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 (2)

熊罷

Sound (1)

態

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnojnˤə a kind of bear
nongnˤə(ŋ) a kind of bear
nongnˤə(ʔ)
(~ *nˤəŋ)		able; ability

說文解字

《說文》：“能，熊屬，足似鹿。从肉，聲。能獸堅中，故稱賢能，而彊壯稱能傑也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.752
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

源 yuán spring

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 原 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

原
原 SoundMeaning component
yuán source

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjwonN-ɢʷar spring, source

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

部 bù part

Original meaning: place in Gansu province

Phonosemantic compound. ⻏ represents the meaning and 咅 represents the sound.

Components

⻏
⻏ Meaning component
yì city

⻏ is a component form of 邑.

Change in meaning
⻏ hints at the original meaning of 部, "place in Gansu province", which is no longer the most common meaning of 部 in modern Mandarin.
咅
咅 Sound component
pǒu to spit out

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbuwX[b]ˤ(r)oʔ lead (v.), govern

說文解字

天水狄部。从邑咅聲。

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)

國 guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
或
或 Sound component
huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwok[C.q]ʷˤək state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)