匮缺
kuì​quē

shortage

匮 kuì, guì empty, lacking Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 匚 represents the meaning and 贵 represents the sound. Simplified from 匱.

Components

匚
匚 Meaning component
fāng, fàng box

box

贵
贵 Sound component
guì expensive

Sources

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

缺 quē be short of, lack

Original meaning: damaged object

Phonosemantic compound. 缶 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound.

Components

缶
缶 Meaning component
fǒu pottery
Change in meaning
缶 hints at the original meaning of 缺, "damaged object", which is no longer the most common meaning of 缺 in modern Mandarin.
夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhwetNə-[k]ʷʰˤet break; defective

說文解字

《說文》：“缺，器破也。从缶，決省聲。”

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)

匱 empty, lacking Traditional

Original meaning: box

Phonosemantic compound. 匚 represents the meaning and 貴 represents the sound.

Components

匚
匚 Meaning component
fāng, fàng box
貴
貴 Sound component
guì expensive

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

櫃

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgwijH[g]ruj-s box (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“匱，匣也。从匚，貴聲。”

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)