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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

意

yì
wish; desire; intention
  • HSK 2
  • radical 心
  • 13 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

Modern form is a compound of 音 and 心 (“heart”). However, the top component is etymologically unrelated to 音. According to Lin (1920), 𠶷 (a compound of 言 and 中) found in bronze inscriptions is the same character as 意 (yì).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

Words built on it: 意思, 注意, 同意, 億, 不好意思, 故意, 生意, 意外, 主意, 有意思, 得意, 意志

Meanings

character
  1. wish; desire; intention
  2. meaning; sense
  3. to anticipate; to expect

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

意：志也。从心察言而知意也。从心从音。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 念頭、想法。 例：心慌意亂、言簡意賅、辭不達意
  2. 猜測、推想。 例：意料、出其不意
  3. 情態。 例：醉意、睡意、春意
  4. 願望。 例：滿意、稱心如意、差強人意

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

How 意 was written 字形演變

  1. 意 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  2. 意 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  3. 意 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
  • 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: 意