懂中文 Dong Chinese

尉

wèi

officer

Original meaning: 

to iron

Depicts a hand (寸) holding fire (火) to smoothen out fabric. Based on the original meaning "to iron", now written as 熨. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components
◎ iconic component

◎  Iconic component

  

characterless component

Depicts a piece of fabric.

火 iconic component

火  Iconic component

huǒ

  

fire

Modern form looks like unrelated 小.

寸 iconic component

寸  Iconic component

cùn

  

(hand), inch

Depicts a hand.

Evolution

尉 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

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

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
尉 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

尉  

wèi

officer, military rank; military officer

尉  

Wèi

surname Wei

Most common words with 尉
Freq.
Word
Meaning

上尉

captain (military rank)

中尉

lieutenant (navy)

校尉

military officer

尉

surname Wei

少尉

second lieutenant (army rank)

Component uses

Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)

熨

Sound component in 3 characters (0 verified)

慰 蔚 熨