Definitions
(noun)
soft leather
(noun)
tanned leather
Etymology
Simplified form of 韋. Pictograph of feet walking around city walls. The character is based on the original meaning "to surround". The "leather" meaning is a phonetic loan.
About
The character "韦" originated as a pictograph representing tanned or processed animal hides, with its earliest forms depicting two feet or a repetitive movement encircling a central element, conceptually linked to the action of softening leather by working it. Its traditional form, "韋", more clearly retains this structure of components suggesting enclosure or surrounding, which semantically extended to imply defiance or opposition, as in going against a boundary. Over centuries, its primary meaning settled on "soft leather" or "tanned hide", while the more abstract connotations of "to be contrary" became largely obsolete in common usage. This leather-related meaning persists in some compound words, though the character is now most frequently encountered as a common Chinese surname, a usage derived from its original form through the common practice of adopting material names for family names.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
韦老师教我们数学。
韦恩来自美国。
昨天韦经理开会了。
韦小姐在图书馆工作。
韦工程师设计了一座新桥。
如果韦教授同意，我们就开始实验。
韦队长鼓励大家加油。
尽管韦顾问提出了建议，但项目还是被推迟了。