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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

以

yǐ
a preposition that expresses a boundary in time, orientation, direction or quantity
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 10
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 人
  • 5 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Pictogram (象形) – a person (人) carrying something. It is often simplified to 㠯 in pre-Qin ancient scripts. Today, the person is partly visible on the right (see also the stylization in 从).

See also 重, in which a person is carrying a bag, 央, in which a person is carrying a pole.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ləʔ (“to take; to fetch”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT under PTB *la-k). Cognate with 式 (OC *hljɯɡ, “model; form; rule”), 試 (OC *hljɯɡs, “to test; to try”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

Words built on it: 所以, 可以, 以前, 以下, 以上, 以及, 以後, 以外, 似, 加以, 以往, 以為

Meanings

character
  1. a preposition that expresses a boundary in time, orientation, direction or quantity
  2. by; with; by means of; thereby
  3. according to
  4. so as to; in order to
  5. because; because of
  6. therefore; thus; and then; and so; then

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 用、使用。 例：我辭禮矣，彼則以之。（《左傳．襄公十年》）
  2. 認為。 例：人人自以得上意。（《漢書．卷九．元帝紀》）
  3. 致、使。 例：可以、得以、以免
  4. 以色列的簡稱。 例：以阿戰爭
  5. 介詞
  6. 連詞。相當於「與」、「和」。 例：治世之音安以樂，其政和；亂世之音怨以怒，其政垂。（《禮記．樂記》）

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 以 was written 字形演變

  1. 以 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 以 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 以 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 以 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 以 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 以 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 以