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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

萬

wàn
original form of 蠆／虿 (chài, “scorpion”)
  • Pictogram
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 禸
  • 13 strokes

Etymology graph

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  • derived
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Origin

The character 萬 is a pictogram of a scorpion. According to the Shuowen Jiezi, it is a type of insect and is a pictogram. It was later phonetically borrowed to represent the number ten thousand (OC *mlans). In ancient China, it also referred to a ritual dance or sorcery.

As a numerical term, it denotes ten thousand, which is ten times the amount of a thousand, or a great number. It can also signify something numerous, extraordinary, or absolute. It is also used as a surname. The character's earliest attested forms appear in oracle and bronze scripts, followed by chu, qin, seal, and regular scripts.

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

萬字最初是象形文字，描繪的是蠍子。根據《說文解字》記載，此字為「蟲也」，從「厹」且為象形。在演變過程中，原本指代蠍子的字（蠆，中古音 *m̥ʰraːds）後來被音借用來表示萬（中古音 *mlans），意指一萬、極多或無數。此外，這個字也與古代中國的一種祭祀舞蹈或巫術有關。

在字形組成上，萬字包含「草」與「禺」兩個部分。其中「草」包含表示草的語義成分「艸」，以及表示聲音的「早」；而「禺」則由「甶」（鬼頭）與「禸」（獸足）組成。此字最早見於甲骨文，隨後也出現在金文、楚文字、秦文字、小篆與楷書中。除了作為數目字（千的十倍）與形容眾多、非常、絕對的詞彙外，萬也是一個姓氏。

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

Lineage

  • partChinese草 “herbaceous plant; herb; weed; wort; grass; forb”
    • meaningChinese艸 “grass”
    • soundChinese早 “early; in advance; soon”
      • meaningChinese日 “Sun”
      • soundChinese棗 “jujube; Chinese date”
      • ideaChinese甲 “shell; carapace”
  • partChinese禺 “a kind of large monkey with a long tail and red eyes”
    • ideaChinese甶 “Head of a ghost”
    • ideaChinese禸 “beast foot”

Words built on it: 万

Wiktionary etymology text

Pictogram (象形) – scorpion. The derivative 蠆 (OC *m̥ʰraːds) refers to the original word. Later phonetically borrowed to refer to 萬 (OC *mlans, “ten thousand”).

; “scorpion”

; “religious dance; sorcery”

; “myriad; ten thousand”

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. original form of 蠆／虿 (chài, “scorpion”)
  2. A ritual dance in ancient China.
  3. myriad, ten thousand, 10000
  4. a great number; myriad; numerous
  5. very; extremely; absolutely
  6. a surname

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

萬：蟲也。从厹，象形。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 數目字。千的十倍。 例：百萬、千萬
  2. 眾多。 例：包羅萬象、千軍萬馬、千頭萬緒
  3. 非常、絕對。 例：萬全、萬不得已、萬萬不可
  4. 姓。

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

How 萬 was written 字形演變

  1. 萬 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 萬 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 萬 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 萬 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 萬 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 萬 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
  • 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
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 萬