zhànzhān

divine

In ancient China fortune-tellers analyzed cracks () and holes () in shells and bones for the purpose of divination.

Components
卜 iconic component

  Iconic component

bo

  

fortune telling

Depicts a crack.

口 iconic component

  Iconic component

kǒu

  

mouth

Depicts a hole

Evolution

占 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
占 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
占 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

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

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

zhàn

divine; observe; versify; to take possession of; to occupy; to take up

 

zhān

to observe; to divine

() 

zhàn

variant of [zhàn]

Most common words with 占
Freq.
Word
Meaning

to occupy

占据

to occupy

占领

to hold

占用

to occupy

占有

to have

Component uses

Meaning component in 6 characters (0 verified)

Sound component in 24 characters (8 verified)

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*tem

tsyem

zhān

prognosticate


Statistics

HSK level 2

Appears in 24.4113% of movies

1424th most common character in movies

737th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

5

Unicode

U+5360

Shuowen

“占,視兆問也。从卜,从口。”


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