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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

示

shì
to show; to reveal; to indicate; to notify; to instruct
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 2
  • radical 示
  • 5 strokes
  • 視
  • 视

Etymology graph

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Origin

Pictogram (象形) – an altar. The original form is similar to unrelated character 丅, and additional strokes are added to prevent confusion with an ancient variant of 下 and the ancient version of 主. See also 帝. Unrelated to 小 and the bottom part of 京.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • partChinese二 “two”
  • partChinese小 “small, tiny, little”
    • ideaChinese八 “eight”
    • ideaChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”

Words built on it: 表示, 視, 神, 禮, 展示, 福, 指示

Meanings

character
  1. to show; to reveal; to indicate; to notify; to instruct

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

示：天垂象，見吉凶，所以示人也。从𠄞，

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 顯現。 例：示範、展示、示眾
  2. 告訴、命令。 例：訓示、明示、指示
  3. 尊稱他人的來信。 例：惠示、來示敬悉

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

How 示 was written 字形演變

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

  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • 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: 示