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史 (shǐ) — (bound form) history; historical; (bound form) official historian (archaic); (proper noun) surname Shi

Definition

A bound morpheme meaning 'history / historical' — almost always combined with another character (e.g. 历史, 史料, 通史); the stand-alone 'surname Shi' sense is rare.

bound form
historyhistoricalofficial historian (archaic)(proper noun) surname Shi

Examples

  • 。
    Zhōng guó yǒu wǔ qiān nián de lì shǐ.
    China has five thousand years of history.
  • 史。
    Tā shì yí wèi yán jiū míng shǐ de xué zhě.
    He is a scholar who studies Ming history.
  • 。
    Zhè běn shǐ shū jì zǎi le hěn duō gǔ dài shì jiàn.
    This historical record documents many ancient events.

Origin

Pictograph
六书liùshū
象形xiàngxíng

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The old drawing showed someone holding a flag-like or writing tool, indicating the act of recording events; the exact inner shape is unclear.

Appears in
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