Definitions

guó surname Guo; Guo, a kinship group whose members held dukedoms within the Zhou Dynasty realm, including Western Guo 西虢國|西虢国[xī guó guó] and Eastern Guo 東虢國|东虢国[dōng guó guó]

Etymology

Depicts a hand () and a hand holding a weapon () fighting with a tiger (). The component was later reanalyzed as (hand). Based on the original meaning "to fight a tiger". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

About

Originally, depicted a hand () and a hand holding a weapon () fighting a tiger (). The weapon-holding hand was later reanalyzed as (hand). The original meaning "to fight a tiger" is now obsolete; the character is used solely as a phonetic loan for the names of several Zhou vassal states, Western Guo, Eastern Guo, and Northern Guo. It never developed extended meanings beyond these historical and geographical references.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Bronze etymology image
Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal etymology image
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern