Dong Chinese dictionary

xìn

trust

Conveys trusting (信) what a person (人) says (言). 人 is also a sound component.

Components

rén

person

亻 is a component form of 人.

信 and 亻 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.信 /*s-ni[ŋ]-s/
亻 /*ni[ŋ]/

言 Meaning component

yán

speech

Evolution

Bronze script

Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

xìn

trust, believe; letter; mail; CL:封[fēng]; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random

Most common words with 信

Sources