chén​lǔ

slave

chén minister

Original meaning: glare at

Pictograph of an eye, similar to . Based on the original meaning "glare at", now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Simplified (3)

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzyin[g]i[ŋ] slave, subject

說文解字

《說文》:“臣,牽也,事君也。象屈服之形。”

Sources

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

to capture Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Simplified component
lì, li power

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Sound component
tiger

is a component form of .

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

to capture Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
nán male
Sound component
tiger

is a component form of .

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluXC.rˤaʔcaptive; imprison
Zhengzhangraːʔ

說文解字

獲也。从毌从力,虍聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica