Dong Chinese dictionary

fēn, fèn

divide

Depicts a knife ( 刀 ) being used to cut two things apart (八).

Components

bā

eight

Depicts two things being separated.

分 and 八 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.分 /*pə[n]/, /*[m]-pə[n]-s/
八 /*pˤret/

刀 Iconic component

dāo

knife

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

分

fēn

divide; small unit of time etc.; to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to distinguish (good and bad); part or subdivision; fraction; one tenth (of certain units); unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm; minute (unit of time); minute (angular measurement unit); a point (in sports or games); 0.01 yuan (unit of money)

分

fèn

part; share; ingredient; component

Most common words with 分