yìn​zhì

print

yìn print

Original meaning: restrain

Pictograph of a kneeling person () being held down by a hand (). Based on the original meaning "restrain", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "push down", "stamp", and "print".

Components

Iconic component
zhǎo, zhuǎ hand, claw
Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

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 Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2)

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jinH[ʔ]iŋ-s seal

說文解字

執政所持信也。从爪从卪。凡印之屬皆从印。

Sources

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

zhì control Simplified

Original meaning: break

Depicts cutting down a tree () with a knife (). Based on the original meaning "break". The meaning later shifted to "control".

Components

Iconic component
wèi not yet

Depicts a tree.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.
Iconic component
dāo knife

is a component form of .


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out, prepare

說文解字

《說文》:“制,裁也。从刀,从未。未,物成,有滋味,可裁斷。一曰止也。,古文制如此。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.357漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

manufacture Traditional

Original meaning: to cut

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
zhì control
Meaning component
clothes

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyejHtet-s cut out (a garment)

說文解字

《說文》:“製,裁也。从衣,从制。”

Sources

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