麦克斯韦
Mài​kè​sī​wéi

James Clerk Maxwell

麦 mài wheat Simplified

Simplified form of 麥. The top component 來 depicts a stalk of wheat. The bottom component depicts roots.

Components

來
來 SoundIconicSimplified component
lái come

Depicts a stalk of wheat.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts roots.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (1)

啬

Remnant (1)

啬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

麸

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

唛

說文解字

《說文》：“麥，芒穀。秋穜厚薶，故謂之麥。麥，金也。金王而生，火王而死。从來，有穗者。从夕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

克 kè subdue

Pictograph of a person (人) carrying a heavy weight on their back.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a heavy load being carried on the back.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

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
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

氪剋

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhokkʰˤək carry; able; dominate

說文解字

《說文》：“克，肩也。象屋下刻木之形。，古文克。，亦古文克。”

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)

斯 sī this

Original meaning: cut

Phonosemantic compound. 斤 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "cut". Nowadays this character is usually only used for its sound in phonetic loans.

Components

斤
斤 Meaning component
jīn axe
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 (0 of 5 verified)

撕嘶厮澌廝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsje[s]e split (v.)
sje[s]e this
sjese 斯須 a short time

說文解字

《說文》：“斯，析也。从斤，其聲。《詩》曰：‘斧以斯之。’”

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)

韦 wéi, huí tanned leather Simplified

Simplified form of 韋. Pictograph of feet walking around city walls. The character is based on the original meaning "to surround". The "leather" meaning is a phonetic loan.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 12 verified)

围伟违纬讳苇闱炜玮韪帏祎

Meaning (1 of 4 verified)

韩韧韬韫

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.476
Readings & variants
Unicode

麥 mài wheat Traditional

The top component 來 depicts a stalk of wheat. The bottom component depicts roots.

Components

來
來 SoundIconic component
lái come

Depicts a stalk of wheat.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts roots.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 5 verified)

麴麯麩麵麪

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嘜

Iconic (1)

嗇

Remnant (1)

嗇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmeakm-rˤək (dialect: *m-rˤ > *mˤr-)wheat

說文解字

《說文》：“麥，芒穀。秋穜厚薶，故謂之麥。麥，金也。金王而生，火王而死。从來，有穗者。从夕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

韋 (surround a city), tanned leather Traditional

Original meaning: surround a city

Pictograph of feet walking around city walls. The character is based on the original meaning "to surround". The "leather" meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.
囗
囗 SoundIconic component
wéi, guó surround

Depicts city walls.

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 (4 of 13 verified)

卫衛違緯葦諱韙圍瑋禕闈幃偉

Meaning (1 of 3 verified)

韌韓韜

Remnant (1)

卫

Iconic (1)

衛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjw+j[ɢ]ʷə[j] leather
hjw+j[ɢ]ʷə[j] go against

說文解字

《說文》：“韋，相背也。从舛，囗聲。獸皮之韋可以束，枉戾相韋背，故借以為皮韋。，古文韋。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.476
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)