睁一只眼闭一只眼
zhēng​yī​zhī​yǎn​bì​yī​zhī​yǎn

turn a blind eye

睁 zhēng open eyes Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 争 represents the sound. Simplified form of 睜.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
争
争 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

一 yī one

A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Wu) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (9)

生之方或万旦曰巿丏

Meaning (2 of 7 verified)

百千兹闩戛晉閂

Unknown (2)

昼晝

Distinguishing (1)

夫

Simplified (1)

丛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jitʔi[t] one

說文解字

《說文》：“一，惟初太始，道立於一，造分天地，化成萬物。弌，古文一。”

Sources

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

只 zhǐ, zhī only Simplified

Origin unclear. In simplified Chinese, in addition to the meaning "only", 只 is also used as a measure word. In traditional Chinese this meaning is written as 隻.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

识织职积帜炽咫枳轵

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangklje
kljeʔ
Unicodejǐɛ

說文解字

《說文》：“只，語已詞也。从口，象氣下引之形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.149-150
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

眼 yǎn eye

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngonXŋˤə[n]ʔ protrude as a knob
ngeanX[ŋ]ˤ<r>ə[n]ʔ eye

說文解字

《說文》：“眼，目也。从目，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)

闭 bì shut Simplified

Simplified form of 閉. Depicts a door closed shut with horizontal bars.

Components

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

Depicts horizontal bars used to keep the door shut.

Sources

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

睜 zhēng open eyes Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 爭 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
爭
爭 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangzeŋʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

隻 only Traditional

Depicts a hand (又) holding a bird (隹). 隻 is used as a measure word for birds, as well as some other animals and objects.

Components

隹
隹 Iconic component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird
又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyektek single

說文解字

鳥一枚也。从又持隹。持一隹曰隻，二隹曰雙。

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)

閉 bì shut Traditional

Depicts a door closed shut with horizontal bars.

Components

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

Depicts horizontal bars used to keep the door shut.


Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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-SagartpejHpˤi[t]-s close (v.); obstruct

說文解字

《說文》：“閉，闔門也。从門，才所以距門也。”

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)