参 - Dong Chinese dictionary

cān, shēn

take part in

Original meaning:

Three Stars constellation

Simplified form of 參. Depicts three (三) stars (晶) shining (光). Originally represented the Three Stars constellation (參) in Chinese astronomy. The more common meaning "take part in" is a phonetic loan.

Components

晶 Iconic Simplified component

jīng

bright, crystal

Depicts three stars joined together

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 晶 than it was in ancient scripts.

光 Iconic Remnant component

guāng

light

三 Sound Meaning component

sān

three

Evolution

Bronze script

Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional script

Modern

Simplified script

Modern

Definitions

参 (參)

cān

take part in, intervene; ginseng; to take part in; to participate; to join; to attend; to counsel; unequal; varied; irregular; uneven; not uniform; abbr. for 參議院|参议院 Senate, Upper House

参 (參)

shēn

one of the 28 constellations

参 (叅)

cān

old variant of 參|参[cān]

参 (葠)

shēn

variant of 參|参[shēn]

Most common words with 参