服 - Dong Chinese dictionary

fú, fù

clothes

Original meaning:

submit, serve

Combination of 凡 (plate) and subdue (𠬝). Based on the original meaning "serve" or "submit". 凡 alludes to serving a plate.

Components

凡 Meaning component

fán

all

Depicts a plate.

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

𠬝 Sound Meaning component

fú

subdue

Depicts a kneeling person being subdued.

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

服

fú

clothes; wear, dress; dress; garment; to serve (in the military, a prison sentence etc); to obey; to be convinced (by an argument); to convince; to admire; to acclimatize; to take (medicine); mourning clothes; to wear mourning clothes

服

fù

classifier for medicine: dose; Taiwan pr. [fú]

Most common words with 服

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	服务	to serve
	衣服	clothes
	服	clothes
	舒服	comfortable
	服装	dress

Component uses

Sound component in 1 character (0 verified)

菔

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese	Middle Chinese	Pinyin	Gloss
*[b]ək	bjuwk	fú	quiver (n.)
*[b]ək	bjuwk	fú	garment; wear (v.)
*[b]ək	bjuwk	fú	subdue, submit
*[b]əʔ	bjuwX	fù	box of a carriage