维妙维肖
wéi​miào​wéi​xiào

lifelike

维 wéi hold together, maintain Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound. Simplified form of 維.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

隹
隹 Sound component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

潍

Sources

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

妙 miào mysterious

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 少 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
少
少 Sound component
shǎo, shao, shào few

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjiewH[m]ew(ʔ)-s marvelous

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

肖 xiào look like

Original meaning: decrease, disappear

Depicts the moon (月) getting smaller (小) and disappearing as part of the lunar cycle. Based on the original meaning "decrease, disappear", now written as 消. The meaning later shifted to "resemble; similar".

Components

小
小 SoundMeaning component
xiǎo small
月
月 Meaning component
yuè, yue moon

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 25 verified)

消销稍悄削哨屑梢俏峭鞘硝霄宵逍捎诮艄魈筲绡蛸銷趙誚

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

俏霄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsjew[s]ew disappear
sjewH[s]ew-s resemble

說文解字

《說文》：“肖，骨肉相似也。从肉，小聲。不似其先故曰不肖也。”

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)

維 wéi hold together, maintain Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

隹
隹 Sound component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

濰

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartywijɢʷij (? < *ɢʷuj)rope for tying

說文解字

《說文》：“維，車蓋維也。从糸，隹聲。”

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)