余

Yu2
#728 most
frequent character
surname Yu

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

余 yú is a drawing of a thorny tree, its first meaning. Very early it was borrowed for its sound to mean 'I, me'. 'To have a surplus' was also a sound loan, with no link to the shape, and 'leftover' grew from that.

Drawn as: a tree with thorns

余 as a component in other characters

sound11 characters
除途徐叙涂斜荼蜍狳酴嵞
picture3 characters
馀艅畬

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Same Characters, Different Readings

余yú
(literary) I, me, variant of 餘|余[yu2]
余yú
extra, surplus, remaining

Homophones

于Yu2
surname Yu

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