贝
貝bèi
#1,131 most
frequent character
cowrie, shellfish, currency (archaic)
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
贝 is a drawing of a cowry shell, which was also its first meaning. Since shells served as money in old cultures, the word came to mean shell currency too. 贝 is the simplified form of 貝, taken from a cursive way of writing it.
Drawn as: cowry shell
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