卡西米尔效应
Kǎ​xī​mǐ'ěr​xiào​yìng

Casimir effect

卡 kǎ stuck

Origin unclear, but typically explained as being stuck between something above (上) and something below (下). The uses of 卡 to mean "card" or "calorie" are foreign phonetic loans.

Components

上
上 Iconic component
shàng, shang up
下
下 Iconic component
xià, xia under

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

咔胩佧

Sources

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

西 xi, xī west

西 was written two different ways in ancient scripts: (1) a pictograph of a bird's nest, and (2) a variant of the phonetically similar 囟.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 10 verified)

牺洒栖茜哂硒溧舾粞恓

Simplified (1)

晒

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsejs-nˤər west
sejs-nˤər west

說文解字

《說文》：“西，鳥在巢上，象形。日在西方而鳥棲，故因以為東西之西。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.831-832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)

米 mǐ rice

Pictograph of grains of rice.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (16 of 45 verified)

精粮糊粗粉粒粹糖糟粘糕粟糙籽粱糜糠糯粑粕粲粽粳糅糁籴粜粝粢糇籼糌糨糗糍粞糈糢糰糧匊糲糬氣䊪

Iconic (10)

料奥暴粪粥鬻糞䊆龹奧

Sound (1 of 7 verified)

迷眯咪麋敉脒洣

Simplified (3)

类断娄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmejX(C.)mˤ[e]jʔ millet or rice grains, dehusked and polished

說文解字

《說文》：“米，粟實也。象禾實之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.579-580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)

尔 ěr you Simplified

Simplified form of 爾. Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

你弥玺迩祢

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

你妳袮

Simplified (1)

称

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyeXn[ə][r]ʔ you(r)

說文解字

《說文》：“尒，詞之必然也。从入、丨、八，八象气之分散。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

效 xiào result, effect

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 交 represents the sound.

Components

交
交 Sound component
jiāo to cross, to mix
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

傚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthaewHm-[k]ˤraw-s imitate, follow

說文解字

《說文》：“效，象也。从攴，交聲。”

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)

应 yīng, yìng, ying should Simplified

Simplified form of 應. Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 䧹 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 MeaningSimplified component
xīn, xin heart
䧹
䧹 SoundSimplified component
yīng eagle

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

爾 ěr you Traditional

Pictograph of a weapon with a sharp head and tail decorations on the end. Similar in origin to 朿. Original meaning unclear.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

邇禰璽彌

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejXnˤ[ə][r]ʔ numerous
nyeXn[ə][r]ʔ (adv. suffix)
nyeXn[ə][r]ʔ you(r)

說文解字

《說文》：“爾，麗爾，猶靡麗也。从冂，从，其孔；尒聲。此與爽同意。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.259董蓮池《說文解字考正》p.129
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

應 yīng, yìng, ying should Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 䧹 represents the sound.

Components

心
心 Meaning component
xīn, xin heart
䧹
䧹 Sound component
yīng eagle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'ing[q](r)əŋ ought

說文解字

《說文》：“應，當也。从心，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)