present, current

is composed of (gather) and a horizontal stroke. depicts an open mouth facing downward, while the horizontal stroke represents closure or sealing; thus conveys the idea of closing the mouth, and its original meaning was something held in the mouth (neither spit out nor swallowed), this meaning was later replaced by . Since something held in the mouth is neither expelled nor swallowed, it extended to mean the present moment or now, which is the current primary meaning of .

Vocabulary of 今

  • 今年 (this year)
  • 至今 (so far)
  • 如今 (nowadays)

Related Characters: