Chinese Character Wiki
用

yòng

use

Original meaning: 

bucket

Depicts a bucket with a handle on the right side. Based on the original meaning "bucket". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "use".

Evolution

用 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
用 Bronze script Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
用 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
用 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
用 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

用  

yòng

use, employ, apply, operate; use; to use; to employ; to have to; to eat or drink; expense or outlay; usefulness; hence; therefore

Most common words with 用
Freq.
Word
Meaning

用

to use

使用

to use

作用

to act on

利用

to exploit

不用

need not

Component uses

Meaning component in 2 characters (0 verified)

佣 甭

Sound component in 7 characters (2 verified)

拥 甬 甯 庸 佣 甭 痈

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*loŋ-s

yowngH

yòng

use (v.)


Statistics

HSK level 1

Appears in 99.6636% of movies

99th most common character in movies

51st most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

5

Unicode

U+7528

Shuowen

“用，可施行也。从卜，从中。衛宏說。，古文用。”
Sources

季旭昇《說文新證》p.253-254

林志強《《文源》評注》p.367



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