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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

按

/ˀän⁵¹/
to push (with hands); to press
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 3
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 手
  • 9 strokes

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Origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *qaːns): semantic 扌 + phonetic 安 (OC *qaːn). The phonetic component however indicates the concept to be at ease, hence it is linked with the meaning "to restrain; to push down".

Exoactive of 安 (OC *qaːn, “be calm”), lit. "cause to be settled, calmed".

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese手 “hand (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn; 雙／双 m mn; 對／对 c)”
  • soundChinese安 “calm; peaceful; tranquil; quiet”
    • meaningChinese宀 “a type of deep house with walls on all four sides, a roof, a main hall, and back rooms”
    • soundChinese女₂ “a seated 女 on a cushion”

Words built on it: 按照

Meanings

character
  1. to push (with hands); to press
  2. to put aside
  3. to restrain
  4. to check against something, chiefly a text
  5. to make comments; to write notes
  6. according to; referring to; following

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

按：下也。从手安聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 用手或手指向下壓。 例：按鈴、按絃、按摩　◎
  2. 抑止、擱置。 例：按兵不動、按下不提
  3. 依照。 例：按照、按部就班、按圖索驥
  4. 研查考證後所作的說明、註解或論斷。 例：作者按語

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

How 按 was written 字形演變

  1. 按 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  2. 按 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: 按