xiāo

vanish

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components
氵 meaning component

  Meaning component

shuishuǐ

  

water

is a component form of .

肖 sound component

  Sound component

xiàoxiāo

  

look like

Evolution

消 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

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

Clerical script

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

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
消 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

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

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

xiāo

vanish, die out; melt away; to disappear; to vanish; to eliminate; to spend (time); have to; need

Most common words with 消
Freq.
Word
Meaning

消息

news

消失

to disappear

消费者

consumer

取消

to cancel

消费

to consume