史

shǐ
#456 most
frequent character
history, annals

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

史 was drawn as a hand 又 holding a container that held writing brushes and bamboo strips. That picture gave the first sense 'government official.' The meaning then grew to 'scribe or annalist' and finally 'history'.

Drawn as: hand holding container; container for writing tools

史 as a component in other characters

sound2 characters
驶吏
picture1 character
吏

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