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Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC 
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC 
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC 
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD 
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC 
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD 
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD 
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD Regular Modern
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Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources
Original meaning: insect
Depicts an insect. Based on the original meaning "insect", now preserved in the word 昆虫. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | kwon | [k]ˤu[n] | elder brother |
說文解字
《說文》：“昆，同也。从日，从比。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.608
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)