穆加贝
Mù​jiā​bèi

Robert Mugabe

穆 mù majestic

Original meaning: ears of a grain plant

Depicts the ripe drooping ears of a grain stalk (禾). 彡 was later added as a decorative mark. Based on the original meaning "ears of a grain plant". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "majestic".

Components

禾
禾 Iconic component
hé grain stalk
Change in meaning
禾 hints at the original meaning of 穆, "ears of a grain plant", which is no longer the most common meaning of 穆 in modern Mandarin.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the ripe drooping ear of a grain stalk.

彡
彡 Distinguishing component
shān, xiǎn hair

Used here as a decorative mark.

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 Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 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 Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmjuwkm(r)iwk harmonious

說文解字

《說文》：“穆，禾也。从禾，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)

加 jiā add

Depicts making loud noises with the mouth (口) to add power (力) during manual labor.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

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 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

Component uses

Sound (6 of 17 verified)

架驾贺嘉咖迦伽茄枷瘸袈痂珈跏笳賀駕

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

珈哿

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaekˤraj add

說文解字

《說文》：“加，語相增加也。从力，从口。”

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)

贝 bèi sea shell Simplified

Simplified form of 貝. Pictograph of a cowrie shell. In ancient China such shells were used as currency.

Component uses

Meaning (22 of 57 verified)

资质费财货贵赛购贸赞贫赖赏贴贡贷贺赔赋赢贤赌贾赐赠账赚贩贬贿贱贮赎赁赃赣贻赓贰赡赈赊赝贲赍赅贽赀赉赒赙赕贳贶赆赇屃

Sound (1 of 6 verified)

败坝狈赘钡呗

Iconic (5)

员负贯贪𭕆

Unknown (0 of 2 verified)

琐罂

Remnant (1)

员

Sources

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

貝 bèi sea shell Traditional

Pictograph of a cowrie shell. In ancient China such shells were used as currency.

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 Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (28 of 56 verified)

真责質貢資責貴貼費販賴貧賈賦購貯財贏貨賀賢賜贈貿賄賞貲賚賂貸貽賅賺贄贊賁眞賑贗賬賭賙賽賤贓贖贛賠賒貶貳賃贍𧸇齎𧶠

Iconic (10)

得貪負買貫賓寶賏𧴪㝵

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

贅鋇敗唄狽

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

瑣

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpajHpˤa[t]-s cowry shell

說文解字

《說文》：“貝，海介蟲也。居陸名猋，在水名蜬。象形。古者貨貝而寶龜，周而有泉，至秦廢貝行錢。”

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)