厌yàn

厌

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Simplified · Today

简体

Simplified Chinese

Simplified 厌 (yàn, "to dislike/tired of") derives from traditional 厭, which originally depicted a person satisfied after eating meat—the 甘 (sweet) and 肉 (meat) components together showing satiation. Over centuries, the meaning shifted from "being full" to "being disgusted," and the simplified form strips away the meat radical while retaining the core idea of having had enough.

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Shuowen

厌 (yàn) originally depicted a mouth (口) with food, signifying the state of being full and satisfied; in its later form the radical 厂 (a shelter or cliff) was added as a semantic element while the phonetic 夗 (a bent shape) provided the sound, a combination seen in oracle bone and bronze inscriptions. The original meaning of satisfaction later extended to “to be weary or disgusted” because being saturated with something leads to dislike. Thus the character preserves the image of eating to fullness, from which the extended meanings of boredom and aversion developed.

Pinyin

yàn· HSK 2

厌yàn

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin