使 - Dong Chinese dictionary

shǐ

to use

The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén

person

亻 is a component form of 人.

吏 Sound Iconic component

lì

government official

Depicts a hand holding a container for writing utensils.

使 and 吏 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.使 /*s-rəʔ/, /*s-rəʔ-s/
吏 /*[r]əʔ-s/

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Mid Spring and Autumn (~600 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

使

shǐ

cause, send on a mission, order; envoy, messenger, ambassador; to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; to send; to instruct sb to do sth; envoy; messenger

Most common words with 使