at

Original meaning: 

wind instrument

Pictograph of a musical wind instrument with a reed, which is now written as . The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Evolution

于 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
于 Bronze script Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)

Bronze script

Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
于 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
于 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
于 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

 

surname Yu

 

to go; to take; sentence-final interrogative particle; variant of |[yú]

() 

in, at, on; interjection alas!; in; at; to; from; by; than; out of

Most common words with 于
Freq.
Word
Meaning

in

关于

pertaining to

对于

regarding

由于

due to

终于

at last

Component uses

Sound component in 13 characters (2 verified)

Iconic component in 1 character (1 verified)

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*ɢʷ(r)a

hju

go; at

*ɦʷa (< *ɢʷ(r)a)

hju

單于 chányú: Xiōngnú ruler (W. Hàn)


Statistics

HSK level 6

Appears in 97.1328% of movies

181st most common character in movies

40th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

3

Traditional

Unicode

U+4E8E

Shuowen

“于,於也。象气之舒于。从丂,从一。一者,其气平之也。”


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