Origin

The character 貸 combines two parts to express the idea of lending. The bottom component 貝, which originally depicted a shell used as currency in ancient China, indicates this character relates to money or goods. The top component 代 serves as a sound hint, suggesting the character's pronunciation without contributing to its meaning. Together, the character depicts the concept of temporarily giving over valuables or money — you're essentially putting goods in someone else's hands for a time, much like how shells once represented portable wealth.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).