殴 (ōu): to beat up

Meanings

1 to beat up
2 to hit
3 to strike (a person)

Characters

殴

ōu

to beat up; to assault

Examples

他因殴打他人被警方逮捕。

Tā yīn ōudǎ tārén bèi jǐngfāng dàibǔ.

He was arrested by the police for assaulting someone.

双方发生口角后互殴，各有受伤。

Shuāngfāng fāshēng kǒujiǎo hòu hù'ōu, gè yǒu shòushāng.

After an argument, both sides came to blows and were injured.

Tips

usage

殴 is primarily used in legal/formal language: 殴打 (ōudǎ, to assault), 互殴 (hù ōu, mutual fighting), 殴打罪 (ōudǎzuì, assault and battery). Not used in casual speech.

Components

radical

殳 shū

halberd; bamboo staff

殳 is the indexing radical, an old graph showing a hand wielding a long pole — ceremonial staff, then any striking weapon. It carries the meaning of 殴: to beat, hit with violence (殴打). Sister chars 段 (originally hammered), 般 (kind), 投 (toss) all involve the striking hand.

phonetic

区 qū

area; district

区 (qū) on the left supplies the sound — initial drifted from q- to vowel-only ō, rime preserved. Originally pictured small things hidden inside a 匚 box, hence sense of compartment. Same phonetic drives 欧 (Europe), 鸥 (gull), 呕 (vomit) — all ōu/qū family.