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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

香

xiāng
fragrant; fragrance
  • Ideogrammatic compound 會意
  • HSK 3
  • TOCFL 3
  • radical 香
  • 9 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

In the oracle bone script, it was ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 黍 (“glutinous millet”) + 口 (“mouth”). The whole character perhaps indicate that millet was used to produce liquor from fermentation which could be drank and/or sacrificed.

In the seal script, the 口 was replaced with the related 甘 (“sweet”). Hence, the most conservative variant is 𪏽.

Currently, the 黍 has simplified into 禾 and the form of the bottom component 甘 has become akin to the unrelated 曰.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • ideaChinese黍 “proso millet (Panicum miliaceum) (especially glutinous varieties, but also generic)”
  • ideaChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”

Words built on it: 香蕉

Meanings

character
  1. fragrant; fragrance
  2. aromatic; delicious-smelling
  3. having the appearance that one really enjoys the food; (of sleep) sound
  4. wonderful; enjoyable (in general)
  5. popular
  6. perfume

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

香：芳也。从黍从甘。《春秋傳》曰：“黍稷馨香。”凡香之屬皆从香。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 芬芳美好的氣味。與「臭」相對。 例：花香、書香、粉香
  2. 氣味美好的。 例：香茗、香泉、香水
  3. 用香料製成棒、線、球、餅狀的東西，可供拜祭鬼神或驅除蚊蟲。 例：線香、檀香、蚊香
  4. 親吻。 例：香一香臉
  5. 與女性有關的。 例：香閨、香魂、香汗淋漓
  6. 舒適甜美的。 例：睡得很香

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

How 香 was written 字形演變

  1. 香 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 香 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 香 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  4. 香 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: 香