召妓
zhào​jì

hire a prostitute

召 zhào summon

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 刀 represents the sound.

Components

刀
刀 Sound component
dāo knife
口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

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
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 (5 of 20 verified)

超招绍昭沼诏邵韶迢貂笤劭龆苕紹髫轺怊炤詔

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

招诏韶詔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyewX[d]awʔ (place name)
drjewH[d]raw-s summon

說文解字

《說文》：“召，也。从口，刀聲。”

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)

妓 jì, jī prostitute

A working 支 woman 女; 支 also provides the pronunciation

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
支
支 SoundMeaning component
zhī support, hold up

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkre
ɡreʔ
Unicodeghyɛ̌

說文解字

婦人小物也。从女支聲。讀若跂行。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)