辭
cí HSK7

words

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approved by inralback19 · Mar 6, 2026, 01:27 PM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Mar 6, 2026, 03:04 PM

zi

Changed fields: isVerified, components, customSources, strokeDataSimp, fragmentsSimp, historicalImages

Original meaning: litigation

Alludes to a governance (𤔔) dispute related to criminal law (辛). Based on the original meaning "litigation". The meaning later shifted to "words".

Components

𤔔
𤔔 Iconic component
辛
辛 Iconic component

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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-Sagartzisə.lə words

說文解字

《說文》：“辭，訟也。从，猶理辜也。，理也。，籀文辭从司。”

Sources

Character origin
zi.tools
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)