Dong Chinese dictionary

mǎi

buy

Pictograph of money (貝) coming out of a netted bag (网).

Components

网 Iconic component

wǎng

net

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

貝 Iconic component

bèi

sea shell

Shells were used as currency in ancient China.

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

mǎi

buy, purchase; bribe, persuade; to buy; to purchase

Most common words with 買

Component uses

Meaning component in 1 character (1 verified)

Sound component in 2 characters (1 verified)

Sources