貝

Derived characters

 * Appendix:Chinese radical/貝

Glyph origin
– cowrie.

Etymology
Cowries were used as money in ancient China.

Possibly from ; cognate with 🇨🇬,, 🇨🇬 (STEDT; ; ).

Alternatively, proposes that it is an ancient loanword from languages of the south (which call it bia). Since the species of sea snail used as decoration and currency— (money cowry)—is not native to the eastern seashores of China, he proposes that cowries used by the ancient Chinese dynasties in Central China must have come from the southeastern shores of China and areas further south. Compare 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬 > 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Definitions

 * 1) shellfish; cowrie
 * 2)  money; currency

Etymology 1


→ * → →  →

From, from. Appears voiced in the ' of 712 in a compound, with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling 賀比, and in the ', completed some time after 759.

Noun

 * 1)  an aquatic shellfish

Etymology 2


Probably ultimately from. Compare modern 🇨🇬 pronunciation buê6, 🇨🇬 bui3, 🇨🇬 bèi.

First attested in 1284.

Noun

 * 1)   ( or )