冗 (rǒng) · redundant, superfluous, lengthy, verbose

Meanings

1 redundant, superfluous
2 lengthy, verbose
3 busy, packed

Characters

冗

rǒng

redundant, superfluous, busy

Examples

HSK 4

这篇文章太冗长了。

Zhè piān wénzhāng tài rǒngcháng le.

This article is too long-winded.

HSK 7-9

请删去冗余的部分。

Qǐng shān qù rǒng yú de bùfen.

Please delete the redundant parts.

HSK 7-9

百忙之中拨冗出席。

Bǎi máng zhīzhōng bō rǒng chūxí.

Despite being busy, he made time to attend.

Tips

usage

Almost never appears alone in modern Chinese - used in compounds: 冗长 (lengthy), 冗余 (redundancy, e.g. data redundancy), 冗员 (redundant staff), 冗杂 (miscellaneous). The phrase 拨冗 ('to make time despite a busy schedule') is a polite formula in invitations.

memory

Top component 冖 (a roof) over 几 - picturing a person sitting idly under a roof with nothing to do. The 'idle/superfluous' meaning grew naturally from this 'unoccupied' image.

Components

radical

冖 mì

cover; roof

Top cover radical 冖 - a horizontal canopy with downward hooks at each end, picturing a sheltered roof. The indexing element here. Puts 冗 in the small radical family with 写 (write), 军 (army), 农 (farm). The roof signals enclosure: a figure tucked under a shelter, idle and out of the way.

semantic

几 jǐ

small table; person bent over

Inside 几 - depicting a person bent over or a low table. The 冗 picture is plain: someone sitting idle beneath a roof. From that idle-figure image come the modern senses of 'superfluous, redundant, busy with trivial things' - staying home but uselessly occupied. A compound ideograph rather than a phono-semantic compound.