永

yǒng
#840 most
frequent character
forever, always, perpetual

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

永 first showed a river in motion, so it meant a long river. The meaning grew to long in time, and then to forever or always.

Drawn as: river in motion

永 as a component in other characters

meaning2 characters
sound2 characters
picture1 character

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