劉 - Dong Chinese dictionary

liú

surname

Original meaning:

type of battle axe

Phonosemantic compound. 卯 represents the sound and 金 and 刂 represent the meaning. Based on the original meaning "battle-axe". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

卯 Sound component

mǎo

4th terrestrial branch

劉 and 卯 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.劉 /*mə-ru/
卯 /*mˤruʔ/

金 Meaning component

jīn

metal

金 hints at the original meaning of 劉, "type of battle axe", which is no longer the most common meaning of 劉 in modern Mandarin.

刂 Meaning component

dāo

knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

刂 hints at the original meaning of 劉, "type of battle axe", which is no longer the most common meaning of 劉 in modern Mandarin.

Evolution

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

刘 (劉)

liú

surname; kill, destroy; (classical) a type of battle-ax; to kill; to slaughter

刘 (劉)

Liú

surname Liu

Most common words with 劉

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	刘	surname Liu
	刘翔	Liu Xiang (1983-), Chinese gold-medal hurdler of the 2004 Olympic Games
	刘海	bangs
	刘德华	Andy Lau (1961-), Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actor
	刘少奇	Liu Shaoqi (1898-1969), Chinese communist leader, a martyr of the Cultural Revolution