guǐ
10th heavenly stem
Origin unclear. Various explanations include (1) a pictograph of a type of ancient weapon, which could be the original form of 戣, (2) pictograph of four leaves growing opposite from each other or the head of a sunflower, which could be the original form of 葵, or (3) pictograph of two arrows intersecting each other. Either way, the original form is unrelated to the current meaning.
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Most common words with 癸
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
deca | ||
fortieth year J4 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1963 or 2023 | ||
twentieth year J8 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 2003 or 2063 | ||
fiftieth year J2 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1973 or 2033 | ||
tenth year J10 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1993 or 2053 |
Sources
季旭昇《說文新證》p.969-970