Definitions
10th earthly branch: 5-7 p.m., 8th solar month (8th September-7th October), year of the Rooster; ancient Chinese compass point: 270° (west)
Etymology
Pictograph of a container for wine.
About
The character "酉" originally functioned as a pictograph for a specific type of ancient wine vessel, with its early form depicting a narrow-necked jar with a broad, often ornate, belly. Over time, its primary meaning expanded from the concrete object to represent the broader concept of wine and alcohol itself, a semantic shift that is clearly reflected in its role as a radical or component in numerous other characters related to fermentation and drinking, such as 酒 (alcohol), 醉 (drunk), and 醱 (to ferment). Beyond its association with wine, this character was adopted at an early stage into the system of Earthly Branches, where it acquired the abstract designation of the tenth branch and came to represent the period of the day from 5 to 7 PM, as well as the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. This dual function, as both a radical with a concrete meaning tied to its pictorial origins and a phonetic loan character for an abstract cyclical symbol, defines its historical trajectory, where its form stabilized into a stylized representation that retains only a vague silhouette of its original vessel shape.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
现在正是酉时。
他是酉年出生的。
酉时太阳下山了。
很多人在酉时下班。
酉年通常有闰月。
在酉时，天空常常是橙色的。
根据传统，酉鸡代表诚实和守信。
酉时是一天中工作结束的时候。