Dong Chinese dictionary

ruì

token made of jade, lucky, auspicious

Phonosemantic compound. 玉 represents the meaning and 耑 represents the sound.

Components

玉 Meaning component

yù

jade

耑 Sound component

duān, zhuān

tip, start, extremity

瑞 and 耑 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.瑞 /*[d]or-s/
耑 /*tˤor/

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Wu (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

ruì

felicitous omen; auspicious; lucky; propitious; rayl (acoustical unit)

Most common words with 瑞

Sources