祭奠
jì​diàn HSK7

offer sacrifices

祭 jì, zhài sacrifice to

Depicts a hand (又) offering meat (⺼) as a sacrifice. 示 is a meaning component commonly used in spiritual-related characters.

Components

⺼
⺼ Iconic component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉. Depicts sacrificial meat.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand offering meat as a sacrifice.

示
示 Meaning component
shì show

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

察傺際瘵縩

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsjejH[ts]et-s sacrifice
tsreajH[ts](ˤ)re[t]-s (name of a state)

說文解字

《說文》：“祭，祭祀也。从示，以手持肉。”

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)

奠 diàn pay respect

Pictograph of a container of wine (酋) placed on a table as an offering for a sacrificial or memorial ceremony.

Components

酋
酋 Iconic component
qiú chief of tribe

Depicts a container of wine.

丌
丌 Iconic component
jī, qí table

Depicts a table the container is being placed on. Modern form looks like unrelated 大.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丌 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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
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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

鄭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdenHN-tˤe[n]-s be fixed (v.i.)
denHm-tˤe[n]-s set forth (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“奠，置祭也。从酋，酋，酒也。下其丌也。《禮》有奠祭者。”

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)