懂中文 Dong Chinese

氣

qì

air

Original meaning: 

gift of grain

Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 气 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gift of grain", now written as 餼. The current meaning "air" is a phonetic loan.

Components
米 meaning component

米  Meaning component

mǐ

  

rice

气 sound,iconic component

气  Sound Iconic component

qì

  

air

Depicts a gust of air.

Evolution

氣 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
氣 Clerical script Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Clerical script

Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
氣 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

气 (氣) 

qì

air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit; gas; air; smell; weather; to make angry; to annoy; to get angry; vital energy; qi

Most common words with 氣
Freq.
Word
Meaning

气

gas

生气

to get angry

天气

weather

空气

air

客气

polite

Component uses

Sound component in 3 characters (2 verified)

愾 餼 滊