jié
cruel
Original meaning:
to be elevated
Depicts two feet (舛) on top of a tree (木). Based on the original meaning, "to be elevated" now written as 傑. The current meaning "cruel" is a phoentic loan.
Evolution
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Component uses
Iconic component in 1 character (1 verified)
Historical pronunciation
Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pinyin | Gloss |
*N-[k]<r>at | gjet | jié | remarkable; hero |
*m-[k]<r>at | gjet | jié | perch for fowls |
*[k]<r>at | kjet | jié | lift, raise |
Statistics
Not found in HSK word list
4097th most common character in books
Miscellaneous
Strokes | 10 |
Unicode | U+6840 |
Shuowen | “桀，磔也。从舛在木上也。” |
Sources
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2404
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