Character: 瑟
Modern (Beijing) reading: sè
Preclassic Old Chinese: srit
Classic Old Chinese: srit
Western Han Chinese: ṣjǝt
Eastern Han Chinese: ṣǝt
Early Postclassic Chinese: ṣɨt
Middle Postclassic Chinese: ṣɨt
Late Postclassic Chinese: ṣɨt
Middle Chinese: ṣit
English meaning : a musical instrument with 25 strings, perhaps comparable to a zither, to distinguish it from 琴 'lute'.
Russian meaning[s]: 1) гусли (в глубокой древности в 50, позже в 25 струн); 2) множество; 3) сильный; 4) чистый, свежий; 5) см. 索
Shuowen gloss: 庖犧所作弦樂也.從琴.必聲.
Comments: Another meaning attested in Early Zhou is "(perhaps) be bright, fresh-looking". It is very tempting to etymologize OC *srit from an Indo-Arian source: either from Old Persian *ɵritaɵra "a three-stringed musical instrument" (whence modern sitār in Iranian and Indian languages), or from Old Indian *sitra-, *sētra- 'string', see Turner 773, 783).
Radical: 96
Four-angle index: 8516
Karlgren code: 0411 a
Shijing occurrences: 1.3, 50.1_, 55.1, 55.2
