易

yì
#461 most
frequent character
easy, amiable, to change, to exchange

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

易 was drawn as two hands offering alcohol to someone, so it first meant 'to change, to give' or 'to change hands.' From there it grew to 'to exchange.' The sense 'easy' was borrowed only for the sound, not from the pouring picture.

Drawn as: two hands pouring drink

易 as a component in other characters

sound7 characters
锡赐踢惕剔蜴埸
picture2 characters
裼鬄

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Same Characters, Different Readings

易Yi4
surname Yi

Homophones

HSK 4
亿yì
a hundred million, calculate
HSK 6
亦yì
also
益yì
benefit, profit, advantage
忆yì
to recollect, to remember, memory
抑yì
to restrain, to restrict, to keep down
意yì
idea, meaning, thought, to think

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