桀
jié

cruel

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approved by inralback19 · Dec 3, 2025, 12:55 AM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Dec 3, 2025, 02:37 AM

add comma

Changed fields: hint

Original meaning: to be elevated

Depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木). Based on the original meaning, "to be elevated", now written as 傑. The current meaning "cruel" is a phoentic loan.

Components

舛
舛 Iconic component
chuǎn oppose

Depicts two feet.

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjetN-[k]<r>at remarkable; hero
gjetm-[k]<r>at perch for fowls
kjet[k]<r>at lift, raise

說文解字

《說文》：“桀，磔也。从舛在木上也。”

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2404
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)