刘
liú

surname

Original meaning: type of battle axe

Simplified form of 劉. Phonosemantic compound. 卯 represents the sound and 金 and 刂 represent the meaning. Based on the original meaning "battle-axe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

文
文 Simplified component
wén writing

Shorthand for the left side of the traditional character 劉.

刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Change in meaning
刂 hints at the original meaning of 刘, "type of battle axe", which is no longer the most common meaning of 刘 in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

浏

Sources

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

劉 surname Traditional

Original meaning: type of battle axe

Phonosemantic compound. 卯 represents the sound and 金 and 刂 represent the meaning. Based on the original meaning "battle-axe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

卯
卯 Sound component
mǎo 4th terrestrial branch
Change in sound
金
金 Meaning component
jīn metal
Change in meaning
金 hints at the original meaning of 劉, "type of battle axe", which is no longer the most common meaning of 劉 in modern Mandarin.
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Change in meaning
刂 hints at the original meaning of 劉, "type of battle axe", which is no longer the most common meaning of 劉 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

瀏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljuwmə-ru kill; surname

Sources

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