绿卡
lǜ​kǎ

green card

绿 lǜ green Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 录 represents the sound. Simplified form of 綠.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

录
录 Sound component
lù copy

Sources

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

卡 kǎ stuck

Origin unclear, but typically explained as being stuck between something above (上) and something below (下). The uses of 卡 to mean "card" or "calorie" are foreign phonetic loans.

Components

上
上 Iconic component
shàng, shang up
下
下 Iconic component
xià, xia under

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

咔胩佧

Sources

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

綠 lǜ green Traditional

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

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

彔
彔 Sound component
lù to carve wood

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljowkpə.rok light blue or green

說文解字

《說文》：“綠，帛青黃色也。从糸，彔聲。”

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)