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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

用

yòng
to use; to employ; to operate
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 用
  • 5 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

The character 用 is a phono-semantic compound. According to the Shuowen Jiezi, it means "can be carried out" and is composed of elements related to divination (卜) and a central component (中). Its earliest attested forms appear in oracle bone, bronze, chu, qin, seal, and regular scripts.

It is inherited from the Proto-Sino-Tibetan reconstruction *z(j)um ~ *zuŋ. This root has several cognates, including Tibetan ལོངས (longs, "use"), Southern Bai zv³¹ ("to use"), Burmese သုံး (sum:, "to use"), Ersu zi⁵⁵ ("to use"), and Nuosu ꌬ (ssi, "to use"). Within Sinitic, it is considered a cognate to 傭 and 庸.

Beyond its primary meanings of employing or operating something, the character can refer to the act of eating or drinking, as well as the outlay or spending of money. One specific definition arises from the sound-matching of the character 蓉 in the term 細蓉.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

在字形構成上，「用」被視為形聲字，由「同」（上古音 *lˤoŋ）加上一個手柄部件所組成。根據 STEDT 的初步設定，此字繼承自原始漢藏語 *z(j)um ~ *zuŋ。

在語言學聯繫方面，Sun (1999) 與 Schuessler (2007) 認為此字與藏語 ལོངས (longs, 「使用」) 為同源詞。此外，它也與多種語言的「使用」概念相關，包括 Southern Bai 的 zv³¹、緬甸語的 သုံး (sum:)、Ersu 的 zi⁵⁵、Nuosu 的 ꌬ (ssi) 以及 Pa'o Karen 的 sūŋ。在漢語內部，其定義 10 則源自「細蓉」一詞中「蓉」字的音近。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • partChinese月 “moon (Classifier: 輪／轮 m)”
  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*z(j)um ~ *zuŋ
  • partChinese丨 “To connect vertically; to pass through from top to bottom.”

Related: Southern Bai zv³¹, Burmese သုံး, Ersu zi⁵⁵, Nuosu ꌬ, Tibetan ལོངས

Words built on it: 使用, 不用, 利用, 有用, 作用, 信用卡, 備, 常用, 用途

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): formed by adding a handle to 同 (OC *lˤoŋ).

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *z(j)um ~ *zuŋ, provisionally set up by STEDT. Cognates to 傭 (OC loŋ) and 庸 (OC loŋ), outside Sinitic, Southern Bai zv³¹ (“to use”) Burmese သုံး (sum:, “to use”), Ersu zi⁵⁵ (“to use”), Nuosu ꌬ (ssi, “to use”), Pa'o Karen [script needed] (sūŋ, “to use”).

Sun (1999) and Schuessler (2007) consider this word a cognate to Tibetan ལོངས (longs, “use”)

Definition 10 comes sound-matching of the character 蓉 from the term 細蓉 / 细蓉.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to use; to employ; to operate
  2. use; utility; usefulness
  3. to eat; to drink
  4. expenses; outlay
  5. with; by; using
  6. to need

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

用：可施行也。从卜从中。衞宏說。凡用之屬皆从用。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 功效。 例：功用、效用、作用
  2. 行使、施行。 例：運用、應用、使用
  3. 錢財的花費。 例：家用、節用
  4. 進食、吃喝。 例：用餐、用茶
  5. 任命。 例：用人唯才
  6. 要、需要。 例：不用擔心，他一定會妥善處理的。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 用 was written 字形演變

  1. 用 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 用 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 用 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  4. 用 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  5. 用 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  6. 用 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Structural decomposition (chaizi) — See upstream
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 用