Zi:三

三 [sān] three; ​举​一​反三 generalize; ​第三​世​界 Third World [sàn] (HDC:) (​旧​读) 三​五 (三​令​五​申)

One monosyllabic entry in The ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary (namespace Ci):

►¹sān* ​三 {A} num. ①three; 3 ②more than two; several; many ◆cons. A ∼ B sì do AB repeatedly/haphazardly ‖ shuō∼dàosì 说∼道四 gossip

The Shuōwén Seal form of 三 sān ‘three’ (the number of the three realms: heaven, earth, man), combines ​一 yī ‘one’ (representing ‘man’), and ​二 èr ‘two’ (representing heaven above earth), to give 三 sān ‘three’; the old (​大​写) form ​弎 encloses it in ​弋.
    Three horizontal strokes, symbolizing the number ‘three’. Variant forms used in special contexts include the following: ​叄, ​𠬅, ​叁, ​參, ​参, ​仨, ​𠫽, ​弎, ​〣, ㊂.
    Compare: ​一(​弌) yī ‘one’, ​二(​弍) èr ‘two’; ☰​乾 Qián ‘yáng/male’ (⚊​阳); ​王 wáng ‘king’ (unifying the three realms); ​土 tǔ ‘earth’.
    Compare: ​彡 shān ‘beautiful/lush/full hair; natural/decorative lines’; ​参(​𠻝​參) shēn ‘Orion’ (​參​星); ​齐/​齊(​𠄷) qí ‘neat/orderly’.
    Note: 《​汉​语​大​词​典》 has an old reading 三 “sàn” (fourth tone, not first tone) meaning “​多​次, ​再三” ‘repeatedly’, as in 三​五 “sānwǔ” (​旧​读 “sànwǔ”), ‘三​令​五​申’. This distinction, attested in Late Middle Chinese, seems to be much older. Such a reading would only be used in modern times in an anachronistic archaicized artificial pronunciation.
    HDZ: 三 : sān : (​数​词) ​二​加​一​的​和; ​多​数, ​多​次 (​举​一​反三); (​复​姓) (三​闾​氏)
►references: Guǎngyùn:224.12,443.29; Henshall:23; Karlgren:AD766,GSR648a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.4.3; Lindqvist:336; Mathews:5415; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:76.05; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:002.0.04; Wáng(1993):192; EDOC:1
►components: ​一
►Cantonese: saam\ saam-
►stroke 三 (... strokes)   
►list characters containing 三 as a component
►list words containing 三 (most common words first)
Unicode: U+4E09
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