七姊妹星团
Qī​zǐ​mèi​xīng​tuán

Pleiades

七 qī seven

Original meaning: cut

Depicts two lines crossing. Based on the original meaning "cut", now written as 切. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 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

Sound (2)

切叱

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

柒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshit[tsʰ]i[t] seven

說文解字

《說文》：“七，陽之正也。从一，微陰从中衺出也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.951-952
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

姊 zǐ elder sister

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 𠂔 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
𠂔
𠂔 Sound component
zǐ to stop

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsijX[ts][i]jʔ older sister

說文解字

《說文》：“姊，女兄也。从女，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)

妹 mèi, mei younger sister

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 未 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
未
未 Sound component
wèi not yet

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmwojHC.mˤə[t]-s younger sister

說文解字

《說文》：“妹，女弟也。从女，未聲。”

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)

星 xīng a star

Phonosemantic compound. 日 represents the meaning and 生 represents the sound.

Components

日
日 Meaning component
rì sun
生
生 Sound component
shēng, sheng life

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 ~1200 - 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
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

醒猩腥惺戥

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

惺

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsengs-tsʰˤeŋ star

說文解字

《說文》：“曐，萬物之精，上為列星。从晶，生聲。一曰象形，从口，古口復注中，故與日同。，古文星。星，曐或省。”

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)

团 tuán ball Simplified

Simplified form of 團. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 專 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
才
才 Simplified component
cái, cai talent

Shorthand for the 專 component in the traditional character 團.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

團 tuán ball Traditional

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

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
專
專 Sound component
zhuān monopolize

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

糰

Meaning (1)

糰

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdwanC.[d]ˤon round, plenty

說文解字

《說文》：“團，圜也。从囗，專聲。”

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)