儒 (rú) — Confucian; scholarly (bound form, used in compo…

Definition

儒 is a bound form meaning 'Confucian' — it only appears in compounds like 儒家, 儒学, and is not used as a standalone word.

bound form

Confucianscholarly (bound form, used in compounds)

儒。
rú Jiā wén huà duì zhōng guó yǐng xiǎng hěn dà.
Confucian culture has a great influence on China.
儒。
Tā yán jiū rú xué yǐ jīng hěn duō nián le.
He has been studying Confucianism for many years.
儒。
rú Jiā sī xiǎng zài dōng yà gè guó dōu yǒu shēn yuǎn yǐng xiǎng.
Confucian thought has a profound influence in East Asian countries.

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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

亻需儒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénhuman

Sound part声符shēngfú

需

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

儒 pairs 亻, meaning human, with 需, which gives the sound.

Appears in