其余 (qí yú) — the rest, the others | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

其余 (qíyú) is a more formal written pronoun for 'the rest' — similar to 其他 but more often used in writing and with a slightly more emphatic 'all the rest' feel.

pronoun

the restthe others

Examples

，其余。
Wǒ men qù le sān gè rén, qí yú de rén liú zài jiā lǐ.
Three of us went, the rest stayed at home.
，其余。
Zhè xiē dàn gāo nǐ chī ba, qí yú de gěi dì di.
Eat these cakes, give the rest to your little brother.
，其余。
Wǒ zhī mǎi le zhè liǎng běn shū, qí yú de dōu méi mǎi.
I only bought these two books; I didn't buy the rest.

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.

其qíthat or it

余yúremaining

‘其’ means that or it, and ‘余’ means remaining, together giving the rest.

Characters in this word

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

The modern form 其 comes from an early drawing of a basket, with a stand added underneath.

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

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.

Appears in

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