jiǎ
1st heavenly stem, fingernail
Origin unclear. Possibly depicts cracks on a shell or tree bark.

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
Modernjiǎ
armor, shell; fingernails; 1st heavenly stem; first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shítiāngān]; (used for an unspecified person or thing); first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc); letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc; armor plating; shell or carapace; (of the fingers or toes) nail; bladed leather or metal armor (old); ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old); civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bǎojiǎ] system (old); ancient Chinese compass point: 75°
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
armor plating | ||
fingernail | ||
deck (of a boat etc) | ||
vehicle armor | ||
thyroid gland |
Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)
季旭昇《說文新證》p.957-958
李学勤《字源》p.1270-1271