bureau

Original meaning: 

bent, curved

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bent, curved". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components
尸 meaning component

  Meaning component

shī

  

sitting person

Depicts a person bending over.

句 sound component

  Sound component

gōu

  

sentence

Evolution

局 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
局 Clerical script Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical script

Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)
局 Seal script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Seal script

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

Clerical script

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

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

bureau, office; circumstance; office; situation; classifier for games: match, set, round etc

() 

narrow

Most common words with 局
Freq.
Word
Meaning

office

结局

conclusion

局长

bureau chief

局面

aspect

出局

to eliminate

Component uses

Sound component in 4 characters (1 verified)