Original meaning: raincoat made from straw or grass
Depicts a woven raincoat (衣) made from either grass or straw. Based on the original meaning "raincoat made from straw or grass", now written as 蓑. The meaning later shifted to "weaken" and "decline".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | tshwoj | [s.r̥]ˤruj | mourning clothes |
| tsrhjwe | [tsʰ]roj | reduce | |
| srwij | sruj | diminish, decline |
說文解字
《說文》：“衰，艸雨衣。秦謂之萆。从衣象形。，古文衰。”
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Original meaning: take away a sacrificial offering
Depicts moving (辶) a sacrificial grain offering (簋) away. Based on the original meaning "take away a sacrificial offering". The meaning later shifted to "withdraw" and "retreat".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | thwojH | n̥ˤ[u]p-s | withdraw (≠ advance) |
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.129-130
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica