庇荫
bì​yìn

shade

庇 bì, pí, pǐ cover

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 比 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
比
比 Sound component
bǐ to compare

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjijpijcover; protect
pjijHpij-scover; protect
Zhengzhangpis
Unicodebì

說文解字

蔭也。从广比聲。

Sources

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

荫 yìn shade Simplified

Shade 阴 provided by a tree 艹; 阴 also provides the pronunciation

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
阴
阴 SoundMeaning component
yīn dark

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

蔭 shade Traditional

Shade 陰 provided by a tree 艹; 陰 also provides the pronunciation

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
陰
陰 SoundMeaning component
yīn dark

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'imHmə-q<r>[u]m-s shade

說文解字

《說文》：“蔭，艸陰地。从艸，陰聲。”

Sources

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