婴

嬰

yīng

女 + 贝

Definitions

yīng (noun) infant; baby

Etymology

Simplified form of 嬰. Depicts a woman (女) wearing shell ornaments (賏) around her neck. 賏 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "necklace". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "infant" or "baby".

Semantic: 女

About

婴 is the simplified form of 嬰, a phono-semantic compound. In the traditional character, 女 (woman) at the bottom provides the meaning, and 賏 (two 貝 shells) on top indicates the sound and originally depicted a shell necklace. The original meaning was "necklace", later shifting to "infant" or "baby". The simplified 婴 replaces the two shells with a single 贝 above the woman radical.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze etymology image

Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal etymology image

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical etymology image

Clerical 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

Example Sentences Hide

这个婴儿很可爱。

Zhège yīng'ér hěn kě'ài.

This baby is very cute.

妈妈抱着婴儿。

Māma bàozhe yīng'ér.

Mom is holding the baby.

婴儿在摇篮里睡觉。

Yīng'ér zài yáolán lǐ shuìjiào.

The baby is sleeping in the cradle.

那个女婴笑得开心。

Nàge nǚyīng xiào de kāixīn.

That baby girl is smiling happily.

婴幼儿产品非常安全。

Yīng yòu ér chǎnpǐn fēichāng ānquán.

Infant and child products are very safe.

护士细心地照顾生病的婴儿。

Hùshi xìxīn de zhàogù shēngbìng de yīng'ér.

The nurse carefully takes care of the sick baby.

为了婴儿的健康，父母学习育儿知识。

Wèile yīng'ér de jiànkāng, fùmǔ xuéxí yù'ér zhīshi.

For the baby's health, parents learn parenting knowledge.

现代科技帮助监测婴儿的睡眠质量和生理指标。

Xiàndài kējì bāngzhù jiāncè yīng'ér de shuìmiàn zhìliàng hé shēnglǐ zhǐbiāo.

Modern technology helps monitor the baby's sleep quality and physiological indicators.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 女

Component: 贝

Example Words