冗 (rǒng): redundant, superfluous

Meanings

1 redundant, superfluous
2 lengthy, verbose
3 (of schedule) busy, packed

Characters

冗

rǒng

redundant, superfluous, busy

Examples

这篇文章太冗长了。

Zhè piān wénzhāng tài rǒngcháng le.

This article is too long-winded.

请删去冗余的部分。

Qǐng shān qù rǒng yú de bùfen.

Please delete the redundant parts.

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 (rǒngcháng, lengthy), 冗余 (rǒngyú, redundancy, e.g. data redundancy), 冗员 (rǒngyuán, redundant staff), 冗杂 (rǒngzá, miscellaneous). The phrase 拨冗 (bō rǒng, '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-冖 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.