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Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC 
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC 
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD 
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD 
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD 
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD 
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD Regular Modern
zones
Original meaning: a parasitic vine
Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 冡 represents the sound. Originally the name of a plant, later meanings coincide with the original meaning of 冡 (to cover).
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | muwng | mˤoŋ | cover (v.) |
說文解字
《說文》：“蒙，王女也。从艸，冡聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李學勤 《字源》 p.58
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)