余力 (yú lì) — spare energy, surplus strength

Definition

noun

spare energysurplus strength

Easily confused

，余力。
Tā gōng zuò hěn máng, méi yǒu yú lì zuò bié de shì qing.
He is very busy with work and has no spare energy to do other things.
，。
Tuì xiū hòu, tā zhōng yú yǒu yú lì qù xué huà huà le.
After retiring, he finally had the spare energy to learn painting.
，余力。
Měi tiān duàn liàn yì xiǎo shí, néng ràng nǐ bǎo chí yú lì.
Exercising for an hour every day can help you maintain spare energy.

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.

余yúsurplus

力lìstrength

余 means surplus and 力 means energy, so together they mean spare energy.

Characters in this word

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

余

Same sound today

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

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.