Dong Chinese dictionary

lì

whetstone

Phonosemantic compound. 厂 represents the meaning and 萬 represents the sound.

Components

厂 Meaning component

hǎn, chǎng

cliff, (roof)

萬 Sound component

wàn

ten thousand

厲 and 萬 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.厲 /*[r]at-s/, /*[r]at-s/, /*[r]at-s/
萬 /*C.ma[n]-s/

Evolution

Bronze script

Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

厉 (厲)

lì

whetstone; grind, sharpen; whet; strict; severe

厉 (厲)

Lì

surname Li

Most common words with 厲

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	厉害	ferocious
	严厉	severe
	厉	strict
	再接再厉	unremitting efforts
	厉声	stern voice

Component uses

Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)

糲

Sound component in 3 characters (1 verified)

Sources

MTSU Chinese text computing

漢語多功能字庫

Freq.

Word

Meaning