tūn

swallow

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
口 meaning component

  Meaning component

kǒu

  

mouth

天 sound component

  Sound component

tiān

  

sky

Evolution

吞 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
吞 Clerical script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
吞 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
吞 Clerical script Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Clerical script

Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
吞 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

tūn

swallow; absorb, annex, engulf; to swallow; to take

Most common words with 吞
Freq.
Word
Meaning

to take

吞噬

to swallow

吞咽

to swallow

吞并

to annex

侵吞

to annex