Kǎ​mén

Carmen

stuck

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

Components

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

Sources

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

mén, men door Simplified

Simplified form of . Pictograph of a gate.

Component uses

Sound (3 of 10 verified)

Iconic (5)

Simplified (1)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

mén, men door Traditional

Original meaning: outer door

Pictograph of a gate.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (3 of 8 verified)

Iconic (5)

Deleted (2)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmwonmˤə[r] gate, door

說文解字

《說文》:“門,聞也。从二戶,象形。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica