减毒活疫苗
jiǎn​dú​huó​yì​miáo

attenuated live vaccine

减 jiǎn decrease Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 冫 represents the meaning and 咸 represents the sound. Simplified form of 減.

Components

冫
冫 Meaning component
bīng ice

冫 is a component form of 冰.

咸
咸 Sound component
xián all

Sources

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

毒 dú poison

Depicts a plant (屮) that is not good (毐), i.e. a poisonous plant.

Components

屮
屮 Meaning component
chè, cǎo sprout
毐
毐 Meaning component
aǐ, ǎi person of reprehensible morals

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

碡

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

纛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdowk[d]ˤuk poison (n.)
dowkm-[d]ˤuk-s to poison (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“毒，厚也，害人之艸，往往而生。从屮，从毐。，古文毒，从刀、葍。”

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)

活 huó, huo live

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 𠯑 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Later reanalyzed as the visually similar character 舌.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

阔闊

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthwat[g]ʷˤat to live

說文解字

《說文》：“，水流聲。从水，聲。，或从。”

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)

疫 yì epidemic

Phonosemantic compound. 疒 represents the meaning and 役 represents the sound.

Components

疒
疒 Meaning component
nè sick
役
役 SoundRemnant component
yì service

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartywekɢʷek epidemic

說文解字

《說文》：“疫，民皆疾也。从疒，役省聲。”

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)

苗 miáo sprouts

Sprouts are plants (艹) that rise from the field (田).

Components

艹
艹 Iconic component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

田
田 Iconic component
tián field

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 9 verified)

描猫瞄锚喵鹋貓錨鶓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjewm(r)aw sprout (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“苗，艸生於田者。从艸，从田。”

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)

減 jiǎn decrease Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 咸 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

咸
咸 Sound component
xián all

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartheamXm-kˤr[ə]mʔ abridge
keamXkˤr[ə]mʔ reduce

說文解字

《說文》：“減，損也。从水，咸聲。”

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)