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欲

yù
noun #3,386

Meanings

  1. 1 desire
  2. 2 appetite
  3. 3 to wish

Examples

HSK 3
她最近食欲不好。
Tā zuìjìn shíyù bù hǎo.
She has lost her appetite recently.
HSK 7-9
有些人对权力有强烈的欲望。
Yǒuxiē rén duì quánlì yǒu qiángliè de yùwàng.
Some people have a strong desire for power.

Tips

memory
谷 (valley) + 欠 (yawning/wanting) - a deep valley of desire

Components

radical
欠 qiàn
yawn; open mouth
Right 欠 is the yawn radical, the indexing component - a person with mouth open, leaning forward, breath issuing out. It anchors 欲 in the family of mouth-and-breath words tied to longing or sound: 歌 to sing, 饮 to drink, 歇 to rest, 欢 joyful. The image is desire as an open-mouthed reaching toward what is missing.
phonetic
谷 gǔ
valley (here phonetic)
Left 谷 supplies the sound - gǔ shifting to yù through Old Chinese velar weakening, the same drift seen in 浴 yù bathe and 裕 yù abundant. 谷 itself depicts a stream emerging from between mountain walls, and the imagery of a hollow valley waiting to be filled lends a faint semantic flavour: desire as something open and craving completion.

Stroke Order

欲 yù