开锁
kāi​suǒ

unlock

开 kāi open Simplified

Simplified form of 開. Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門). The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

Components

開
門 Deleted component
mén, men door

The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

邢趼锎岍汧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

荆妍

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode

锁 suǒ lock Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 𭕆 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鎖.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

𭕆
𭕆 Sound component
suǒ fragments

Sources

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

開 kāi open Traditional

Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門).

Components

門
門 Iconic component
mén, men door
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhojNə-[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.i.)
khoj[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“開，張也。从門，从幵。，古文開。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鎖 suǒ lock Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 𧴪 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
𧴪
𧴪 Sound component
suǒ fragments

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartswaX[s]ˤojʔ chain

說文解字

《說文新附》：“鎖，鐵鎖，門鍵也。从金，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)