诱 (yòu): to entice

Meanings

1 to entice
2 to lure
3 to induce
4 to tempt

Characters

诱

yòu

to entice; to lure

Examples

不要被表面的好处所诱。

Bùyào bèi biǎomiàn de hǎochù suǒ yòu.

Don't be lured by superficial benefits.

他用食物诱那只猫过来。

Tāyòng shíwù yòu nà zhī māo guòlái.

He lured the cat over with food.

Tips

usage

诱 is literary and usually appears in compounds like 诱惑 (tempt), 引诱 (lure), 诱导 (guide/induce). Rarely used standalone in modern speech.

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech (radical form)

Left speech radical (the side-form of 言) — the indexing radical. Marks 诱 as an act done with words: persuading, coaxing, baiting through talk. Same radical drives 说 to speak, 谎 to lie, 谋 to scheme, 谊 friendship — the whole vocabulary of verbal interaction.

phonetic

秀 xiù

refined; elegant (here phonetic)

Right 秀 carries the sound, drifting from xiù to yòu in the x-/y- palatal series. The 'refined' sense adds a faint flavour fitting the meaning: enticement works by displaying something attractive. Same phonetic shows up in 锈 rust and 绣 to embroider, both unrelated in meaning.