Character Contained In References Comments
 Simplified  Traditional  Ancient forms  Archaic forms
   traditional form

Variants

Phonetic

Semantic

Apparent
   囪  八 田 曰  ⿱丷⿱曰
Mandarin
zeng1, ceng2
English
Definitions
before; once; already; great-grand (father); at some time in the past; refers to something that happened previously; surname; sign of past
Mnemonic
to speak 曰 of that which has been removed 八 from the window 囪: the past
Etymology
Notes
Originally meant a pair; early form indicates seems to indicate separation: divided 八 from the fields 田 (changed to window 囪); speak 曰 added later: to speak of the past; modern character represents temporal separation