刺
cìcī HSK4

stab

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound.

Components

朿
朿 SoundIconic component
cì thorn, stab

Pictograph of a thorned weapon or plant.

刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshjeH[tsʰ]ek-s sharp point, thorn
tshjek[tsʰ]ek pierce, stab

說文解字

《說文》:“刺,君殺大夫曰刺。刺,直傷也。从刀,从朿,朿亦聲。”

Sources

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