友

yǒu
noun #4,301

Meanings

  1. 1 friend
  2. 2 friendly; amicable

Examples

HSK 3
Tā shì wǒ zuìhǎo de péngyou.
He is my best friend.
HSK 3
Yǒuhǎo de rén dàochù shòu huānyíng.
Friendly people are welcome everywhere.
HSK 3
Zhōng Rì yǒuhǎo.
China-Japan friendship.

Tips

usage
友 is used in: 朋友 (friend), 友好 (friendly), 友谊 (friendship), 友人 (friend, formal), 男朋友 / 女朋友 (boyfriend / girlfriend), 网友 (online friend). The character shows two hands reaching toward each other.

Components

radical
又 yòu
right hand (radical)
Bottom right hand - also the indexing radical (Kangxi #29). Pictograph of three fingers extended. With the contracted hand above, 友 is one of the most semantically transparent compounds in the script: two hands clasped = friendship. Same radical anchors 反, 取, 受, 双 - the hand-action family.
semantic
又 yòu
right hand (top, contracted form)
Top two strokes - a stylised contracted form of 又 (right hand), drawn here with the diagonal sweeping leftward to mirror the bottom hand. In the oracle-bone original 友 explicitly showed two right hands clasping or reaching toward each other. The top hand is the contracted variant of 又, appearing in this compressed form so two hands fit into one square.

Stroke Order

友 yǒu