shí

real

Original meaning: 

rich; plentiful

Simplified form of . Depicts a string of money () under a roof (). Based on the original meaning "rich; plentiful". The meaning later expanded to "solid", "fruit", and "true". The component was changed to for simplification.

Components
宀 meaning component

  Meaning component

mián

  

roof

头 simplified component

  Simplified component

tóutou

  

head

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

Evolution

实 Bronze script Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze script

Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
实 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
实 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
实 Traditional script Modern

Traditional script

Modern
实 Simplified script Modern

Simplified script

Modern
Definitions

() 

shí

real, true, solid, honest; real; true; honest; really; solid; fruit; seed; definitely

Most common words with 实
Freq.
Word
Meaning

其实

actually

确实

indeed

实现

to achieve

事实

fact

事实上

in fact