秦漢「使」字用詞受到注意，起因於西北邊塞出土之漢代簡牘所見「使男」、「使女」及「未使男」、「未使女」諸詞，據學者研究，諸詞應與漢代的課役身分有關，「使男」、「使女」應是口錢的繳納對象。本文先從「使」的字形與字義著手，討論自甲骨文以來的演變情況，另外再選出「使車」、「使羊」、「使馬」與「使牛」諸詞，將諸詞與「使男」、「使女」、「未使男」、「未使女」共同列出，一併觀察使字用詞的原則，遂知「使男」諸詞亦為派遣義，「使男」、「使女」意為可派遣的男女，「未使男」、「未使女」則為不可派遣的男女，漢代以七歲作為可派遣與否的劃分，只是使與未使並非漢代的課役身分，它要表達的只是可否從事勞務。又據松柏村53號木牘的記載，確知大男、大女亦可「使」，這更可說明即使「使」字出現在賦役的相關文句中，仍應以派遣、役使意解讀之。

The use of the word “shi”(使) in the Qin and Han Dynasties has attracted attention because of the words “shi man”(使男), “shi woman”(使女) and “wei shi man”(未使男) and “wei shi woman”(未使女) found in the Han Dynasty bamboo slips unearthed in the northwest frontier. According to scholars, these words should be related to the status of enlistment in the Han Dynasty.This article will start from the glyphs and meanings of “shi” word, discusses it’s evolution since the oracle bone, and then selects the words “shi vehicle”(使車), “shi sheep” (使羊), “shi horse”(使馬) and “shi ox” (使牛), listing the words together with “shi man”, “shi woman”, “shi man”, and “shi woman”, and observing the using principles of “shi” word. The results of the study show that these words “shi men” are also the meaning of dispatch, “shi man” and “shi woman” mean that man and woman can be enslaved and “wei shi man” and “wei shi woman” are man and woman who cannot be enslaved. In the Han Dynasty, the division of seven years old as whether it could be dispatched or not, but the envoy and the unscheduled were not the status of the Han Dynasty’s enlistment, and it only expressed whether it was possible to engage in labor services.