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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

經

jīng
warp, a thread running lengthwise in a woven fabric
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 5
  • radical 糸
  • 13 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *keːŋ, *keːŋs): semantic 糹 (“silk; thread”) + phonetic 巠 (OC *keːŋ).

Compare Burmese အချင်း (a.hkyang:, “diameter”), Tibetan ཀྱང (kyang, “straight, slender”) (Schuessler, 2007).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese糸 “thin silk”
  • soundChinese巠 “streams running underground”

Related: Burmese အချင်း, Tibetan ཀྱང

Words built on it: 已經

Meanings

character
  1. warp, a thread running lengthwise in a woven fabric
  2. to go through; to experience
  3. to control; to manage; to engage in
  4. norm; regulation
  5. Chinese classics
  6. sacred texts of a certain religion, often used as a suffix for the titles of religious works

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

經：織也。从糸巠聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 織布機或編織物上縱向的線或紗。與「緯」相對。 例：經紗、經線
  2. 地理學上指連接地球南、北兩極，且與赤道垂直的線。以英國格林威治天文臺為起點，東西各一百八十度，以東稱為「東經」，以西稱為「西經」。
  3. 具有特殊價值，被尊為典範的著作。 例：十三經、《山海經》、四書、五經
  4. 闡揚宗教教義的典籍。 例：佛經、《聖經》、《可蘭經》
  5. 人體的脈絡。 例：經脈、經絡
  6. 常道。 例：天經地義、離經叛道

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

How 經 was written 字形演變

  1. 經 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 經 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 經 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  4. 經 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 經 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: 經