临阵脱逃 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

lín draw near Simplified

Original meaning: to look down

Simplified form of 臨. Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".

Components

臣 Iconic Simplified component

chén minister

Depicts an eye.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 臣 than it was in ancient scripts.

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 人 than it was in ancient scripts.

品 Sound Iconic Simplified component

pǐn product

Here used to depict a pile of objects.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.728-729
Readings & variants: Unicode

zhèn burst, array of troops Simplified

Simplified form of 陣. Depicts a formation (阝) of soldiers in chariots (车).

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

车 Meaning component

chē cart, vehicle

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

tuō take off Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 兑 represents the sound. Simplified form of 脫.

Components

⺼ Meaning component

ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

兑 Sound component

duì, ruì, duó exchange

Change in sound

脱 and 兑 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
脱 *lˤot-s
兑 *lˤot-s

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dwajH	lˤot-s	easy, leisurely
	dwat	lˤot	remove outer covering
	thwat	mə-l̥ˤot	peel off

Sources

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

táo escape

Originally written as 兆, a pictograph of two people escaping a flood. The 辶 (walk) component was added later to clarify the meaning.

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

兆 Sound Iconic component

zhào omen

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	daw	lˤaw	flee

說文解字

《說文》：“逃，亡也。从辵，兆聲。”

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)

lín draw near Traditional

Original meaning: to look down

Depicts a person (人) looking (臣) down at a pile of objects (品). 品 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning, "to look down". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "draw near".