公 - Dong Chinese dictionary

gōng

public

Original meaning:

earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八 Iconic component

bā

eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口 Iconic component

kǒu

mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

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

Evolution

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

Modern

Definitions

公

gōng

fair, equitable; public; duke; collectively owned; common; international (e.g. high seas, metric system, calendar); make public; fair; just; Duke, highest of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔděngjuéwèi]; honorable (gentlemen); father-in-law; male (animal)

Most common words with 公