Dong Chinese dictionary

xiàn

county

Original meaning:

suspend, hang

Pictograph of a severed head (首) hanging on a rope (系) from a tree (木). Based on the original meaning "hang" or "suspend". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

首 Iconic component

shǒu

head

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 首 than it was in ancient scripts.

木 Iconic component

mù

tree

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 木 than it was in ancient scripts.

系 Iconic component

xì, jì

system

Evolution

Bronze script

Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

县 (縣)

xiàn

county, district, subdivision; county

Most common words with 縣

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	县	county
	县政府	county administration
	县城	county seat
	县委	CPC county committee
	县级	county level

Component uses

Meaning component in 2 characters (0 verified)

懸纛

Sound component in 1 character (0 verified)

Sources

MTSU Chinese text computing

漢語多功能字庫

Original meaning:

Freq.

Word

Meaning