líng

lonely

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
亻 meaning component

  Meaning component

rén

  

person

is a component form of .

令 sound component

  Sound component

lìnglínglǐng

  

command

Evolution

伶 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
伶 Seal script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Seal script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
伶 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

líng

lonely, solitary; actor; clever; (old) actor; actress

Most common words with 伶
Freq.
Word
Meaning

clever

伶俐

clever

聪明伶俐

clever and quick-witted

伶牙俐齿

having the gift of the gab

孤苦伶仃

solitary and impoverished (idiom)