袁
yuán

robe

Original meaning: get into (armor)

Depicts a hand (又) putting on clothes (衣). Based on the original meaning "get into armor", now written as 擐. A circle (圓) was later added in the middle to indicate the sound.

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
圓
圓 SoundRemnant component
yuán circle

Depicts a circle. Early form of 圓 (round).

衣
衣 Iconic component
yī clothes

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

猿辕遠睘轅園

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjwon[ɢ]ʷa[n] long robe

說文解字

《說文》：“袁，長衣皃。从衣，叀省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.664
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)