Word of the day - 車 (chē)

車: n. chariot, car

Mandarin Chinese: 車 (traditional), 车 (simplified) (chē)
Japanese: くるま (kuruma), しゃ (shya)
Korean: 차 (cha)
Vietnamese: xe

車 is the Chinese pictograph of chariot. In the earliest oracle bone writing, the character clearly depicts the chariot framework, the two wheels and the axle:



The complex oracle bone writing is gradually abandoned, replaced by more simplified forms:



Chariot was introduced to China by the ancient Indo-Europeans, the Chinese word車 chē “chariot” is an Indo-European loan word, from PIE *kers-, “to run”.

It is interesting to note that the Chinese word 車 chē and the English word car not only have the same meaning, but share the same etymology as well. The English word “car” is originated from Middle English carre, from Latin carrum, also ultimately from PIE *kers-.