Read Edit View history Discussion 刘 liú surname Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents ← Back to history approved by Peter Olson · Dec 20, 2021, 08:24 PM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Dec 20, 2021, 08:24 PM verify Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources, strokeDataSimp, fragmentsSimp, historicalImages 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 Shorthand for the left component in the traditional character 劉. 刂 刂 Meaning component 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. Sources Character origin 漢語多功能字庫Readings & variants Unicode