隶
lì HSK7

subservient

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approved by cochleoid · Jun 9, 2022, 12:20 AM · Reviewed by cochleoid on Jun 9, 2022, 12:20 AM

Updated etymology, components, and original meaning.

Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources

Original meaning: to catch from behind

A hand 彐 grabbing a tail from behind.

Components

又
又 Iconic component
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 又 than it was in ancient scripts.
尾
尾 Iconic component

Derives from an ancient and simpler form of 尾 (tail)

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 尾 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdojHm-rˤəp-s reach to

說文解字

《說文》：“隶，及也。从又，从省。又持者，从後及之也。”

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)