业余 (yè yú) — amateur, non-professional; spare-time, after-ho…

Definition

业余 (yèyú) means 'amateur / spare-time,' describing a hobby activity done outside one's job. The only sibling, 外行, refers to someone who lacks professional skill — 'amateurish' rather than 'amateur.'

adjective

amateurnon-professionalspare-timeafter-hours

Examples

业余。
Tā lì yòng yè yú shí jiān xué xí zhōng wén.
He uses his spare time to study Chinese.
业余。
Tā shì yì míng yè yú wǔ dǎo yǎn yuán.
She is an amateur dancer.
业余，。
Tā suī rán zhǐ shì yè yú shuǐ píng, dàn fēi cháng rè ài huà huà.
Although he's only at an amateur level, he really loves painting.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

业yèwork

余yúremaining

业 (work) and 余 (remaining time) combine to mean time left over from work.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

丵丵zhuóchisel
大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 餘; 余 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

食食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

余yú餘Yú

Same sound today

The traditional form 餘 pairs 食 (food) with 余 as its sound part; the simplified 余 is a later abbreviation.

Open 余 →

Appears in