Character: 尋
Modern (Beijing) reading: xún
Preclassic Old Chinese: lhǝm
Classic Old Chinese: lhǝm
Western Han Chinese: lhǝm
Eastern Han Chinese: zhǝm
Early Postclassic Chinese: zhim
Middle Postclassic Chinese: zhim
Late Postclassic Chinese: zhim
Middle Chinese: zjim
English meaning : a measure (8 尺)
Comments: During Early Zhou used also for homonymous *lhǝm 'to warm up' and *lhǝm 'renew'. The meaning 'to seek, search' emerges during Late Zhou (it is not quite clear whether it is archaic or somehow derived from 'renew'?), but becomes widely spread only since Jin. Modern Chinese has also a more standard reading xín. Viet., besides standard tầm, has another loan from the same source: tìm 'to seek, search, look for'.
Radical: 0
Four-angle index: 0
Karlgren code: 0662 a
Go-on: zimu
Kan-on: simu
Vietnamese reading: tầm
