Dong Chinese dictionary

kuàng

situation

Original meaning:

cold water

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 兄 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ

water

氵 is a component form of 水.

氵 hints at the original meaning of 況, "cold water", which is no longer the most common meaning of 況 in modern Mandarin.

兄 Sound component

xiōng

elder brother

況 and 兄 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.況 /*[m̥]aŋ-s/, /*[m̥]aŋ-s/
兄 /*m̥raŋ/

Evolution

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

况 (況)

kuàng

condition, situation; furthermore; moreover; situation

Most common words with 況

Freq.	Word	Meaning
	情况	circumstances
	状况	condition
	何况	let alone
	况且	moreover
	况	moreover

Sources

MTSU Chinese text computing

漢語多功能字庫

Original meaning:

Freq.

Word

Meaning