美国最高法院
Měi​guó Zuì​gāo Fǎ​yuàn

US Supreme Court

美 měi beautiful

Pictograph of a person with ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

Components

羊
羊 Iconic component
yáng sheep

Depicts ornamental headwear resembling sheep horns.

大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Used here as a pictograph of a person.


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 Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
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 (0 of 2 verified)

镁鎂

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

羹

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmijX[m]rəjʔ beautiful

說文解字

《說文》：“美，甘也。从羊，从大。”

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)

国 guó nation Simplified

Simplified form of 國. Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
玉
玉 SoundSimplified component
yù jade

Shorthand for the 或 component in the traditional character 國.

Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

帼蝈掴

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

最 zuì most

Original meaning: gather

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 取 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gather". The meaning later shifted to "accumulate", "many" and "most". Originally written as 㝡. Later extra strokes were added to the 宀 component.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof

Depicts gathering many things in one building. Originally written as 宀, later extra strokes were added.

Change in meaning
宀 hints at the original meaning of 最, "gather", which is no longer the most common meaning of 最 in modern Mandarin.
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 宀 than it was in ancient scripts.
取
取 Sound component
qǔ take
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

撮嘬蕞

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttswajH[ts]ˤot-s collect; most

說文解字

《說文》：“最，犯而取也。从冃，从取。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.617
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

高 gāo high

Pictograph of a tall building.

Components

京
京 Iconic component
jīng capital city

Pictograph of a tall building.

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 18 verified)

毫搞乔豪稿敲膏镐蒿槁篙犒缟縞暠喬鎬槀

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

乔嵩臺喬

Remnant (2)

毫臺

Simplified (1)

乔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkawCə.[k]ˤaw high, tall

說文解字

《說文》：“高，崇也，象臺觀高之形。从冂、口，與倉舍同意。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.448
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

法 fǎ, fa law

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 去 represents the sound. Originally written as 灋.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

Likely alludes to water always flowing in a given path, or water always being flat and level.

去
去 Sound component
qù go away
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjop[p.k]ap model, law

說文解字

《說文》：“灋，刑也。平之如水，从水；廌，所以觸不直者，去之，从去。法，今文省。佱，古文。”

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)

院 yuàn courtyard

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 完 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

完
完 Sound component
wán complete

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthjwenHɢʷra[n]-s wall round a courtyard

說文解字

堅也。从𨸏完聲。

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)

國 guó nation Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 囗 represents the meaning and 或 represents the sound.

Components

囗
囗 Meaning component
wéi, guó surround
或
或 Sound component
huò or

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 Shuowen ~100 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 4 verified)

膕幗蟈摑

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwok[C.q]ʷˤək state (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“國，邦也。从囗，从或。”

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)