yōu

distant

Original meaning: 

to hit someone

Depicts a hand holding a stick () beating up a person (). Based on the original meaning "to hit someone". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components
亻 iconic component

  Iconic component

rén

  

person

is a component form of .

◎ iconic component

  Iconic component

  

characterless component

Possibly depicts drops of blood.

攵 iconic component

  Iconic component

  

tap

is a component form of . Depicts a hand holding a stick.

Evolution

攸 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

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

Bronze script

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

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
攸 Clerical script Wu (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)

Clerical script

Wu (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
攸 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

yōu

distant, far; adverbial prefix

Most common words with 攸
Freq.
Word
Meaning

distant, far

生死攸关

matter of life and death

攸县

You county in Zhuzhou 株洲, Hunan

性命攸关

vitally important

利害攸关

to be of vital interest

Component uses

Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)

Sound component in 6 characters (3 verified)

Sources

季旭昇《說文新證》p.242-243

許進雄《簡明中國文字學》p.341