宴
yàn HSK6

to entertain

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approved by Prismcool · Sep 11, 2024, 03:40 PM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Sep 11, 2024, 03:40 PM

Added etymology

Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources

Original meaning: peace and happiness

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 妟 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "peace and happiness". The meaning later shifted to "banquet", "feast", and "to entertain".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component

Represents being peaceful at home.

妟
妟 Sound component

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'enHʔˤe[n]-s feast (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“宴，安也。从宀，晏聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.657
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)