色

shǎi
#304 most
frequent character
(coll.) color, used in 色子[shai3zi5]

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

色 began as 印 turned upside down, a hand pressing a kneeling person, so it suggested an impression left on a face. That gave the first sense, a person's facial expression. From there it grew to 'appearance', 'color', 'quality', 'feminine beauty', and 'sexual matters'.

Drawn as: upside-down 印; hand pressing kneeling person

色 as a component in other characters

meaning2 characters
艳艴
sound1 character
铯
empty1 character
绝

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