早已
zǎoyǐ · HSK 3
long ago
⏰ 早 (early) + 已 (already) = already early → long ago
Compound of 早 zǎo 'early/morning' + 已 yǐ 'already/finished'. Together they stress that something happened well before now — not just 'already' but 'already a long time ago'.
早 — sun 日 + ten 十 (originally 甲, a helmet/sprout)
Originally depicted the sun 日 rising above a sprouting plant or a person's head, suggesting the early morning when the sun first appears. The lower component was simplified over time into 十. The core meaning 'morning, early' has remained stable since oracle bone script.
已 — snake/fetus 巳 variant, with top opened
Originally a pictograph related to 巳 (a coiled fetus or snake form), 已 was distinguished by opening the top stroke. In ancient texts it came to mean 'to stop, cease, finish,' and by extension 'already.' The graphic split from 巳 and 己 helped fix its modern sense as a marker of completed action.