姑息养奸
gū​xī​yǎng​jiān

coddling evil

姑 gū, gu father's sister

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
古
古 Sound component
gǔ old

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

菇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkukˤa father's sister

說文解字

《說文》：“姑，夫母也。从女，古聲。”

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)

息 xi, xī breathe, rest

Depicts a breath of air going into the nose (自). The lines representing breath were later reanalyzed as 心 (heart).

Components

自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self

自 was the original form of 鼻 (bí; nose).

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Originally lines depicting breath. Later reanalyzed as 心 (heart).


Character Evolution

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 Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

媳熄螅瘜

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

熄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsiksək breathe
siksək 安息 Ānxī (Iranian country in the western regions, W. Hàn; from Aršaka = Arsaces, founder of the Arsacid dynasty)

說文解字

《說文》：“息，喘也。从心，从自，自亦聲。”

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)

养 yǎng raise Simplified

Simplified form of 養. Phonosemantic compound. 食 represents the meaning and 羊 represents the sound.

Components

羊
羊 Sound component
yáng sheep
介
介 Simplified component
jiè to lie between

Shorthand for the 食 component in the traditional character 養.

Sources

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

奸 jiān wicked

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 干 represents the sound. Simplified form of 姦.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
干
干 Sound component
gàn, gān interfere

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkankˤa[r]treacherous
Zhengzhangkaːn

說文解字

犯婬也。从女从干，干亦聲。

Sources

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

養 yǎng raise, bring up Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 食 represents the meaning and 羊 represents the sound.

Components

羊
羊 Sound component
yáng sheep
食
食 Meaning component
shí, shi eat

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

癢

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyangX[ɢ](r)aŋʔ long, longing
yangX[ɢ]aŋʔ nourish, raise

說文解字

《說文》：“養，供養也。从食，羊聲。，古文養。”

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)