Hanzi
/ˈhæn.dzi/noun
A Chinese written character, especially one used in the Chinese writing system.
Did you know?The term connects writing directly to the Han dynasty, whose cultural influence helped make “Han” the enduring name for China’s majority ethnic group.
Etymological Timeline
Late 1st millennium BCE
Classical Chinese
漢字 (hànzì)
“Han characters; the written characters associated with the Han people or Han realm”
206 BCE–220 CE
Chinese
漢 (Hàn)
“The Han dynasty and, increasingly, the cultural and ethnic identity associated with it”
6th–10th Century
Middle Chinese
漢字 (hanH dzɨH)
“Chinese characters; the traditional written signs of the Chinese language”
10th–13th Century
Early Mandarin
漢字 (hànzì)
“Chinese written characters”
20th Century
English
hanzi
“A Chinese character, adopted as a specialized linguistic term”