Dong Chinese dictionary

lài

depend on

Original meaning:

profit

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 剌 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "profit". The meaning later shifted to "rely on" and "blame".

Components

剌 Sound component

lá, là

cut, slash

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 剌 than it was in ancient scripts.

貝 Meaning component

bèi

sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

貝 hints at the original meaning of 賴, "profit", which is no longer the most common meaning of 賴 in modern Mandarin.

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Western Jin dynasty (266-316 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

赖 (賴)

lài

rely, depend on; accuse falsely; to depend on; to hang on in a place; bad; to renege (on promise); to disclaim; to rat (on debts); rascally; to blame; to put the blame on

赖 (賴)

Lài

surname Lai

Most common words with 賴