Resource
Description
An overview of Chinese dictionaries Chinese has a very long history of dictionaries; if you're interested in the language, it will be useful to get a feel for what is actually out there, both print sources and otherwise.
Old Chinese Reconstructions Lots of words with information about the character and derivation from older forms of Chinese.
ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese A book available in PDF form by chapter.
Chinese Etymology Kind of an older site, but it has some useful information about word histories.
Zhongwen Database Includes a dictionary, texts, and resources to learn the language as well.
Digital Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese Guest access is free--the learning curve on this one is a bit steeper than some of the other dictionaries on this page, though.
Old Chinese Basic Vocabulary Database Has a small list of common or useful words.
Radical/Strokes Look-up The strokes needed to create a character, or "radicals," are an important measure for classifying the pieces of the written language.
Chinese Text Project Character Lookup By radicals here as well.
ZDic Will only be useful if you already know Chinese, although it does show you how to draw the characters.
Chinese Characters Also search by radical here; has information about ancient forms and variants, plus other stuff.
Yellowbridge Dictionary Shows information about the etymology as well.
