灭种
miè​zhǒng

become extinct

灭 miè extinguish Simplified

Depicts putting a cover over a fire (火) to smother it. Simplified from 滅.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a cover used to smother a fire.

火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire

Sources

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

种 zhǒng, zhòng seed Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 中 represents the sound. Simplified form of 種.

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
中
中 Sound component
zhōng, zhòng central

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangduŋ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

滅 miè extinguish Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 烕 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

烕
烕 SoundMeaning component
miè extinguish

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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-Sagartmjiet[m]et destroy

說文解字

《說文》：“滅，盡也。从水，烕聲。”

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)

種 zhǒng, zhòng seed Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 重 represents the sound.

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
重
重 Sound component
zhòng, chóng heavy

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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-SagarttsyowngXk.toŋʔ seed
tsyowngH(mə-)toŋʔ-s sow (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“種，先穜後孰也。从禾，重聲。”

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)