bā
eight
Pictograph of two lines facing away from each other. The current meaning "eight" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "separate" is now written as 別.
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Component uses
Sources