殷 - Dong Chinese dictionary

yīn, yān, yǐn

late Shang dynasty, many

Original meaning:

intense pain from an illness

Depicts a person with a swollen abdomen (㐆) receiving an acupuncture from a hand holding a needle (殳). Based on the original meaning "intense pain from an illness". The meaning later shifted to "abundant" and "many" while it's other meaning used as the name of a dynasty at the end of the Shang dynasty is a phonetic loan.

Components

㐆 Sound Iconic component

yǐn

to turn the body

Depicts a person with a swollen abdomen.

殳 Iconic component

shū

weapon or tool

Depicts a hand holding a needle.

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

殷

yīn

many, great; abundant, flourishing; flourishing; abundant; earnest; hospitable

殷

Yīn

surname Yin; dynasty name at the end the Shang dynasty, after their move to Yinxu 殷墟 in modern Henan province

殷

yān

dark red

殷

yǐn

roll of thunder

Most common words with 殷

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	献殷勤	to court sb's favor
	殷勤	politely
	殷	abundant
	殷切	ardent
	殷实	thriving

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese	Middle Chinese	Pinyin	Gloss
*ʔˤrə[r]	'ean	yān	dark-red
*ʔə[r]	'j+n	yīn	殷殷 distressed
*ʔə[r]	'j+n	yīn	ample, many
*ʔər	'j+n	yīn	(dynastic name)