zuì

most

Original meaning: 

gather

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "gather". The meaning later shifted to "accumulate", "many" and "most". Originally written as . Later extra strokes were added to the component.

Components
宀 meaning component

  Meaning component

mián

  

roof

Depicts gathering many things in one building. Originally written as , later extra strokes were added.

取 sound component

  Sound component

  

take

Evolution

最 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
最 Clerical script Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical script

Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
最 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

zuì

most, extremely, exceedingly; most; the most; -est (superlative suffix)

() 

zuì

variant of [zuì]

() 

zuì

old variant of [zuì]

Most common words with 最
Freq.
Word
Meaning

most

最后

final

最近

recently

最终

final

最好

best

Component uses

Sound component in 3 characters (0 verified)