方 - Dong Chinese dictionary

fāng

square

Original meaning:

cutting edge

Depicts the cutting edge (一) of a knife blade (刀). Similar in origin to 亡. Based on the original meaning "cutting edge". The meaning later expanded to "perimeter", "area", and "square".

Components

刀 Iconic component

dāo

knife

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

一 Iconic component

yī

one

Depicts the cutting edge of a knife.

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

Modern

Definitions

方

fāng

a square, rectangle; a region; local; square; power or involution (math.); upright; honest; fair and square; direction; side; party (to a contract, dispute etc); place; method; prescription (medicine); just when; only or just; classifier for square things; abbr. for square or cubic meter

方

Fāng

surname Fang

Most common words with 方