金
jīnJīn HSK3

metal

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approved by Marcus Ngai · Mar 3, 2026, 12:25 AM · Reviewed by Marcus Ngai on Mar 3, 2026, 12:25 AM

Linked 釒 as the component form so it's easier to find; Revert if unnecessary.

Changed fields: hint

Phonosemantic compound. 王 and 吕 represent the meaning and 今 represents the sound. 王 depicts a metal axe and 吕 depicts two metal plates. See 釒 for component form.

Components

今
今 SoundRemnant component
jīn now

Remnant from the top part of 今.

王
王 Iconic component
wáng king

Depicts a metal axe.

吕
吕 Iconic component
lǚ pitchpipe

Depicts two metal plates.

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 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 Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkimk(r)[ə]m metal, bronze

說文解字

《說文》：“金，五色金也。黄為之長，久薶不生衣，百鍊不輕，从革不違。西方之行，生於土，从土，左右注象金在土中形，今聲。，古文金。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.925
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)