參 - Dong Chinese dictionary

cān, shēn, sān

take part in

Original meaning:

Three Stars constellation

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 component

jīng

bright, crystal

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)

Regular 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

叁 (參)

sān

three (banker's anti-fraud numeral)

Most common words with 參

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	参加	to participate
	参与	to participate (in sth)
	参观	to tour
	参赛	to compete
	参议员	senator

Component uses

Sound component in 3 characters (0 verified)

慘滲摻

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese	Middle Chinese	Pinyin	Gloss
r̥ˤəʔ	tshom	cān	accumulate
*[tsʰr][u]m	tsrhim	cēn	參差 tsrhim.tsrhje uneven
s.rum (s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?)	sam	sān	three
srum (should be s.rum)	srim	shēn	the constellation Orion’ (named for the three stars in Orion’s belt)