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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

就

jiù
to approach; to move towards
  • Ideogrammatic compound 會意
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 尢
  • 12 strokes

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Origin

The character 就 is an ideogrammic compound. Originally, it was written as 𫢁, composed of 享 (to enjoy) and 京 (capital), signifying the act of sacrificing at a high place. During the Warring States period, the 享 component was omitted. In seal script, the character 尤 was added to the right, which signifies "high" or "to go to a higher place." The Shuowen Jiezi states that the character means "high" and is composed of 京 and 尤, noting that 尤 means "different from the ordinary."

Modern meanings include to approach, to move towards, to reach, to arrive at, to undertake, to engage in, to succeed, or to complete. It is possibly cognate with 造 (OC *skʰuːɡs, "to proceed to"). The character appears in oracle, bronze, chu, qin, seal, and regular scripts.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「就」字最初的字形為 𫢁，是一個會意字，由「享」與「京」組成，象徵在高的場所進行祭祀。在戰國時期，「享」字被省略；到了篆書階段，右側加入了「尤」字，用以表示「高」或「前往更高的地方」。根據《說文解字》的記載，「就」意指高，從「京」從「尤」，其中「尤」代表異於凡俗。此外，該字與「造」（上古音 *skʰuːɡs，意為「前進」）被認為是同源字。

在字義發展上，「就」包含趨近、靠近、依照、從事、擔任，以及成功或完成等多重含義。此字在甲骨文、金文、楚文字、秦文字、篆書及楷書中皆有記載。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • ideaChinese享 “to enjoy”
  • ideaChinese京 “capital (city)”

Words built on it: 就是, 就要, 成就, 早就, 就算

Wiktionary etymology text

Originally 𫢁, ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 享 + 京, a temple and a tower – meaning "to sacrifice at a high place". During the Warring States period, 享 was omitted. In seal script, 尤 (“especially; even more”) is added to the right, signifying "high; to go to a higher place".

Cognate with 造 (OC *skʰuːɡs, “to proceed to”) (Wang, 1982).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to approach; to move towards
  2. to reach; to arrive at
  3. to undertake; to engage in
  4. to succeed; to complete
  5. to comply; to follow; to accept
  6. to suffer; to be subjected to

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

就：就，高也。从京从尤。尤，異於凡也。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 成功、完成。 例：造就人才、功成名就
  2. 從事、擔任。 例：就職、就業
  3. 趨近、靠近。 例：就位、避重就輕、半推半就
  4. 依照。 例：就事論事
  5. 即刻、馬上。表示事情或動作緊接著發生。 例：你等我一下，我去去就來。
  6. 只、僅。 例：他就剩下這一個兒子了。

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

How 就 was written 字形演變

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

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 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
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 就