xiàoxiāo

look like

Original meaning: 

decrease, disappear

Depicts the moon () getting smaller () and disappearing as part of the lunar cycle. Based on the original meaning "decrease, disappear", now written as . The meaning later shifted to "resemble; similar".

Components
小 sound,meaning component

  Sound Meaning component

xiǎo

  

small

月 meaning component

  Meaning component

yuè

  

moon

Evolution

肖 Bronze script Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Bronze script

Late Warring States (~250 BC)
肖 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

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

Clerical script

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

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

xiào

look like, resemble, be like; similar; resembling; to resemble; to be like

 

Xiāo

surname Xiao; Taiwan pr. [Xiào]

Most common words with 肖
Freq.
Word
Meaning

肖恩

Sean, Shaun or Shawn (name)

similar

肖像

likeness

生肖

animal from the Chinese zodiac

肖邦

Frederic Chopin or Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (1810-1849), Polish pianist and composer

Component uses

Meaning component in 2 characters (0 verified)

Sound component in 25 characters (4 verified)

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*[s]ew

sjew

xiāo

disappear

*[s]ew-s

sjewH

xiào

resemble


Statistics

Not found in HSK word list

Appears in 4.0686% of movies

1874th most common character in movies

2019th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

7

Unicode

U+8096

Shuowen

“肖,骨肉相似也。从肉,小聲。不似其先故曰不肖也。”


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