竞
Meaning: compete；contest； Origin: 甲骨文“竞”字像两个头上带有刀的标志的奴隶在搏斗的情景，古代贵族经常强迫奴隶们角斗，以此取乐。“竞”的本义是“争逐”，现在常用来表示“比赛”、“竞争”。 On oracle bone inscriptions, “竞” resembles two slaves wrestling with knives attached to their heads. In ancient times, nobles often forced slaves to wrestle for fun. The character’s original meaning is to scramble; now, it is…
告
Meaning: inform；tell；accuse；announcement；declaration； Origin: 甲骨文中“告”的字形是上面一个“牛”字，下面一个“口”字，合起来表示祭祀时，人们献上一头牛，并进行祷告的情景，后来，“告”的意思逐渐普通化，泛指“告诉”“表达”和“诉说”。 On ancient oracle bone inscriptions, “告” was composed of “牛” (cow) on top and “口” (mouth) on the bottom, together meaning that people sacrifice a cow…
宾
Meaning: guest Origin: 甲骨文“宾”字像一个人从外面走进屋子里来的情状，有的字形还有足的形状。金文加上“贝”，表示带来礼物的就是宾客。 On oracle bone inscriptions, “宾” looks like a person walking inside from outdoors; in some instances it even includes the shape of a foot. On ancient…
火
Meaning: fire; popular Origin: 甲骨文“火”字像一团火的样子，是用轮廓线来表现的。金文以后就不太像了。“火”又是古时兵制单位，十人为“火”，也写作“伙”。 On oracle bone inscriptions, “火” looks like the outline of a fire. That was not the case after it appeared on bronze inscriptions, as it…
云
Meaning: cloud Origin: 古文“云”，字形像漂浮在空中的云朵，上有云层，下有缭绕的云团。“云”字由于后来借为“说”义，为了区别，在“云”上加了“雨”，表示本义云彩，简体字又恢复为“云”。 The ancient character of “云” resembled cloud in the air with cloud layer above and cloud cluster below. Later,“云” was expressed by the meaning of “say”,…
没有
Structure : Subject + 没有 + Noun Meaning: 没有 (méiyǒu) means “to not have” and can be used to express that someone or something lacks something else. This can be…
凡
Meaning: ordinary; commonplace; all; altogether Origin: 这是最早的“盘”字，像一个盘子的形状，后来本义不存在了，多用于“大都”、“凡是、概括”的意思，又引申为“平常”、“平凡”。 This is the earliest form of the character “盘” (plate), as it resembles the shape of a plate. Over time, it lost this…
赤
Meaning: red; loyal; sincere; bare Origin: “赤”字原来由“大”、“火”二字组成，因为火是红色的，所以“赤”的本义是“红色”，“赤”也有“无”“纯净”“裸露”的意思。 “赤” is composed of two characters: “大” (large) and “火” (fire). Because fire is red, that was the original meaning of “赤.” Today,…
