㝡
zuì HSK1

most

Original meaning: gather

Old variant of 最. Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 取 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gather". The meaning later shifted to "accumulate", "many" and "most".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
取
取 Sound component
qǔ take
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.617
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica