神憎鬼厌
shén​zēng​guǐ​yàn

loathsome

神 shén, shen spirit

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 申 represents the sound.

Components

礻
礻 Meaning component
shì show

礻 is a component form of 示.

申
申 Sound component
shēn to extend

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzyinCə.li[n] spirit

說文解字

《說文》：“神，天神，引出萬物者也。从示、申。”

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)

憎 zēng hate

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 曾 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

曾
曾 Sound component
céng already

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsong[ts]ˤəŋhate
Zhengzhangʔsɯːŋ
Unicodetzəng

說文解字

惡也。从心曾聲。

Sources

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

鬼 guǐ ghost

Pictograph of a person (人) with the head of a ghost/demon (甶). 厶 was later added as a decorative mark.

Components

甶
甶 Iconic component
fú human's head

Used here to depict the head of a ghost/demon.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person
厶
厶 Distinguishing component
sī, mǒu private, selfish

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 16 verified)

魔魂魏魄魅魇魑魉魃魍魈魆醜魖魎魘

Sound (4 of 9 verified)

畏愧瑰魁槐傀隗嵬塊

Iconic (1)

畏

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjw+jXk-ʔujʔ ghost

說文解字

《說文》：“鬼，人所歸為鬼。从人，象鬼頭。鬼陰氣賊害，从厶。，古文从示。”

Sources

Character origin
林志強《《文源》評注》p.4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)

厌 yàn dislike Simplified

Simplified form of 厭. Phonosemantic compound. 厂 represents the meaning and 猒 represents the sound.

Components

厂
厂 Meaning component
chǎng cliff, (roof)

The outer walls of buildings in premodern China were filled with earth that was packed down (壓). This is one of the cases where the forms of 广 (building) and 厂 (cliff) were used interchangeably to mean the same thing.

犬
犬 Simplified component
quǎn dog

Shorthand for the sound component 猒 in the traditional character 厭.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

压魇靥餍恹

Simplified (1)

压

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.832
Readings & variants
Unicode

厭 yàn dislike Traditional

Original meaning: to push down on

Original form of 壓. Phonosemantic compound. 厂 represents the meaning and 猒 represents the sound.

Components

厂
厂 Meaning component
chǎng cliff, (roof)

The outer walls of buildings in premodern China were filled with earth that was packed down (壓). This is one of the cases where the forms of 广 (building) and 厂 (cliff) were used interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Change in meaning
厂 hints at the original meaning of 厭, "to push down on", which is no longer the most common meaning of 厭 in modern Mandarin.
猒
猒 Sound component
yàn satiate, eat one's fill

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

饜懨壓魘

Meaning (1)

壓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jiepʔep press (v.)
'jiemʔem contented (adj.)

說文解字

《說文》：“厭，笮也。从厂，猒聲。一曰：合也。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.832The Outlier Linguistics Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)