Original meaning: catch a bird
Depicts a bird (隹) being caught in a bird trap (罕). Based on the original meaning "catch a bird". The meaning later shifted to "reject", "separate", and "leave".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | lje | [r]aj | meet with, encounter |
| lje | [r]aj | depart from | |
| ljeH | raj-s | reject |
說文解字
《說文》：“離，離黃，倉庚也。鳴則蠶生。从隹，离聲。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.954
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)
Simplified
Depicts using a net (𠦒) to catch prey in a forest (林). 林 also represents the sound. In simplified Chinese 离 is also used to mean "leave", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 離.
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | trhje | r̥aj | mountain demon |
說文解字
《說文》：“离，山神獸也。从禽頭，从厹，从屮。歐陽喬說：‘离，猛獸也。’”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.954林志強《《文源》評注》p.7漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.1268-1269陳靖《兩周古文字編注》p.2182
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)