磨刀
mó​dāo

sharpen

磨 mó, mo, mò grind

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 麻 represents the sound.

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
麻
麻 Sound component
má, ma hemp

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

蘑耱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmamˤajrub, grind
maHmˤaj-sgrinding stone
Zhengzhangmaːl
maːls
Unicodemɑ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

刀 dāo knife

Pictograph of a knife.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (12)

方分解绝初亡勿刃絕叚𢇍刅

Meaning (3 of 5 verified)

切券剪劈㓞

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

召叨忉

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttawC.tˤaw knife

說文解字

《說文》：“刀，兵也。象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.352
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)