糞
fèn HSK7

manure

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approved by Prismcool · Jun 3, 2026, 03:48 AM · Reviewed by Prismcool on Jun 3, 2026, 03:48 AM

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Changed fields: components

Original meaning: to clean up

Depicts two hands (廾) using a dustpan (其) to sweep away garbage or feces. Based on the original meaning "to clean up". The meaning later shifted to "manure".

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component

Depicts garbage or feces.

其
其 Iconic component

Depicts a dustpan.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjunHp[u]r-s manure, dirt

說文解字

《說文》：“糞，棄除也。从廾推糞采也。官溥說：似米而非米者，矢字。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.314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)