Definitions

finished

Etymology phono-semantic

speech

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character is the simplified version of , a phono-semantic compound that combines the semantic component (speech, words) with the phonetic component (qǐ), together yielding the pronunciation qì. In its simplified form, the full radical is compressed into the shorthand on the left, while the phonetic on the right remains unchanged. The core meaning is completion or finalization, typically used in administrative, financial, or formal contexts to indicate that a transaction, payment, or verbal statement has been fully concluded. The speech radical hints that this sense of ending originally applied to the act of finishing a spoken agreement or declaration.

Etymology Hide

Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern