无庸 (wú yōng) — need not; there is no need to (literary variant of 毋庸)

Definition

Literary 'need not' — a formal, written-style adverb, stronger and more bookish than 不必 or 不用. Used in set phrases like 无庸赘述.

adverb
need notthere is no need to (literary variant of 毋庸)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 无庸。
    Zhè jiàn shì wú yōng zhuì shù.
    There's no need to elaborate on this matter.
  • 无庸，。
    Nǐ wú yōng dān xīn, yí qiè dōu huì shùn lì.
    You need not worry; everything will go smoothly.
  • 无庸。
    Tā de néng lì wú yōng zhì yí.
    His ability is beyond doubt (there's no need to question it).

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

无wúlack
庸yōngneed

无 conveys lack and 庸 conveys need, so the whole means there is no need.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
庚庚gēng
Sound part声符shēngfú
同
同tóng庸yōng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

庸 is built from 庚 and 同, with 同 giving the sound. It probably originally meant a large bell.

Open 庸 →

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