約 - Dong Chinese dictionary

yuē, yāo

agreement

Original meaning:

bind

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

糹 Meaning component

sī, mì

silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

勺 Sound component

sháo

spoon

約 and 勺 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.約 /*[q]ewk-s/, /*[q](r)ewk/
勺 /*m-tewk/, /*tewk/

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

约 (約)

yuē

treaty, agreement, covenant; to make an appointment; to invite; approximately; pact; treaty; to economize; to restrict; to reduce (a fraction); concise

约 (約)

yāo

to weigh in a balance or on a scale

Most common words with 約