懂中文 Dong Chinese

欧

ōu, oū

Europe

Original meaning: 

vomit

Simplified form of 歐. Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 區 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "vomit". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components
区 sound component

区  Sound component

qū, oū

  

area

欠 meaning component

欠  Meaning component

qiàn

  

yawn, deficient

Evolution

欧 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
欧 Clerical script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
欧 Traditional script Modern

Traditional script

Modern
欧 Simplified script Modern

Simplified script

Modern
Definitions

欧 (歐) 

ōu

used in transliterating non-Chinese words such as Europe, ohm; surname; (used for transliteration); old variant of 謳|讴[ōu]

欧 (歐) 

Oū

Europe; abbr. for 歐洲|欧洲[Oū​zhōu]; surname Ou

Most common words with 欧
Freq.
Word
Meaning

欧洲

Europe

欧

to sing

欧元

euro (currency)

欧盟

EU

欧美

the West