新

The core sense denotes a physical state resulting from a recent act of production or change. Its lexical range includes:

1. Temporal: Something that has just occurred or arrived (e.g., recent news).

2. Qualitative: An object in its prime state, not yet worn or decayed (e.g., a fresh blade).

3. Transformative: Used as a verb meaning to renovate, replace, or make new.

• Attributive: Modifies a noun (e.g., "new [object]").
• Predicative/Verbal: When appearing in a predicate position or followed by a complement, it may signal the act of renewal or a transition from an old state to a new one.

• 新 vs. 舊 (Old): A primary binary; where 舊 appears, 新 often functions specifically as "not-old" or "replaced."
• 新 vs. 鮮 (Fresh/Vivid): While both can mean "fresh," 新 emphasizes age and origin (time since creation), whereas 鮮 emphasizes sensory vividness, brightness, or vitality.

Tang-period reading: *sin; Fanqie: 息鄰.

The glyph combines the elements for wood (木) and axe (斤), evoking the image of "freshly hewn" timber.

In early texts, avoid reading modern concepts of "innovation" or "invention" into this glyph. It rarely refers to the creation of something entirely unprecedented; it typically denotes the replacement of an old version with a fresh one (maintenance and renewal rather than revolution).