Zi:世

世 [shì] generation (~30 yrs), period/era (世​代); world (世​界); century (世​纪); people/everyone (世​人); (HDZ:) (​古) ​三​十​年; …; (​姓)

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

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The Shuōwén Seal form of 世(​㔺​𠀍​丗) shì ‘thirty/many years/branches (a generation)’ is said to modify ​卅(​𠦃) sà ‘thirty’ (phonosemantic) by pulling/bending inward the bottom ends of the two outside vertical strokes, to form a branching tree-like shape: at thirty years of age the son becomes a father; at thirty-year intervals, in the course of long drawn-out time, each generation begets the next, each branch puts forth its own branches, diverging from the common root ancestor.
    Note: SW glosses the modification of ​卅(​𠦃) with ​曳(​𦥙​抴) yè ‘drag/pull/lengthen’ (​曳​长: ​拉​长), in which the stroke is ​𠂆 yì ‘stretch/pull/draw out’ (phonosemantic); cf. ​乁 yí (​流), ​𡿨 quǎn (​畎), ​巜 (​澮), ​巛 (​川); successive generations of men flow through time in the way that a branching river system flows through the earth.
    Compare: ​𠂆(​抴​曳) yì ← MC /Øiais/; 世(​㔺​𠀍​丗) shì ← MC /ɕiais/ (SBGY).
    Compare: ​止 zhǐ ‘foot; stand/stop; base/bottom’, the branching of the foot into ​趾 toes; the old basis of 世(​㔺) might have been ​止 zhǐ (phonosemantic), with the ​三 three horizontal lines added to indicate additional branches.
    Compare: ​葉 yè ‘leaf/leaves (of a plant)’, formerly wr. ​枼(​枽), and later wr. ​叶.
    Compare: ​十 shí ‘ten’ (all four cardinal directions and their center); ​古 gǔ ‘ancient/old’.
    Older graphs associated with 世 also suggest ​止 and later modifications thereof.
    HDZ: 世 : shì : (​古) ​三​十​年; ​父​子​相​继 (​一世), ​一​代; ​后​嗣; 世​系, ​家世; 世世​代​代; ​朝​代; ​时​代; ​年, ​岁; 世​界, ​人世; 世​人; ​一​生; ​嫡​长 (​嫡​长​子); ​先​辈​有​交​谊​的; ​继​承; ​产​生, ​出​生; (​佛​教) ​过​去、​未​来、​现​代; (​副​词) (​已​经; ​从​来, ​终​归); ​太 (tài): ​大; (​姓)
►references: Karlgren:AD886,GSR339a; Hànyǔ Dà Zìdiǎn:1.14.6; Mathews:5790; Kāngxī Zìdiǎn:77.11; Bǐshùn Guīfàn:012.1.08; Wáng(1993):191; EDOC:1
►components: ​廿​𠃊​​卅​乁​十
►Cantonese: sai-
►stroke 世 (... strokes)   
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Unicode: U+4E16
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