Originally, the character 乍 was the base (original) form, referring to a craftsman (匠人) using a sharp tool to carve and shape objects.
However, once 乍 started being used as an adverb meaning “suddenly” or “briefly,” the character 作 was formed by adding 人 (person) to distinguish the meaning related to making or creating.

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

at, in, to, from, than

five, number 5, fifth

benevolence, kindness, humaneness

to be between, to insert, mediate

to substitute, to replace, era, generation

item, matter, case

to plan, to strive for, to stand on tiptoe, to hope/aspire

low, to be low, lower than

to make, to build, to create, composition

to serve, to attend

to rely on, to depend on, to lean on

convenient, comfortable, excrement

to tie, to be tied, to connect, to relate

individual, single unit

false, fake, temporary, to borrow

a hundred million, 100.000.000, hundred-millionth

first, beginning, origin, chief

Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

作

Etymology

Characters next to each other in the list

References