mǎi​xiōng

hire a hitman

mǎi buy Simplified

Pictograph of money () coming out of a netted bag (). The simplified character was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character .

Components

wǎng net
Simplified component
tóu, tou head

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character . Shells were used as currency in ancient China.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Meaning (1)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

xiōng vicious, fierce Simplified

Pictograph of a trap in the ground.

Character Evolution

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 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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjowngqʰ(r)oŋ unlucky

說文解字

《說文》:“凶,惡也。象地穿交陷其中也。”

Sources

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

mǎi buy Traditional

Pictograph of money () coming out of a netted bag ().

Components

Iconic component
wǎng net
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
bèi sea shell

Shells were used as currency in ancient China.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmeaXmˤrajʔ buy

說文解字

《說文》:“買,市也。从网、貝。《孟子》曰:‘登壟斷而网市利。’”

Sources

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

xiōng terrible, fearful Traditional

Depicts a person () under a trap ().

Components

SoundIconic component
xiōng vicious, fierce

Depicts a trap.

Meaning component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a person under a trap.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqʰoŋ
qʰoŋʔ

說文解字

《說文》:“兇,擾恐也,从人在凶下。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica