磨砺
mó​lì

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

砺 lì whetstone Simplified

A stone 石 used to hone 厉 blades; 厉 also provides the pronunciation

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
厉
厉 SoundMeaning component
lì whetstone

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

礪 whetstone Traditional

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartljejH[r]at-sgrindstone
Zhengzhangm·rads
Unicodeliɛ̀i

說文解字

䃺也。从石厲聲。經典通用厲。

Sources

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