裕 (yù) — abundant, affluent

Definition

裕 (yù) is a bound morpheme meaning 'abundant / well-off' — it only appears inside compounds like 富裕, 充裕, and 宽裕, never as a word on its own. The free-standing word for 'rich' is 富 or 富有.

bound form
abundantaffluent

Examples

  • 。
    Tā jiā hěn fù yù.
    His family is very wealthy.
  • ,。
    Shí jiān chōng yù, bú yòng zháo jí.
    Time is abundant, no need to rush.
  • 。
    Tā de shēng huó hěn kuān yù.
    His life is quite well-off.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
谷
谷gǔ裕yù
Same sound today

裕 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 谷, which gives the sound gǔ. A folk story says 谷 represents space in the clothes.

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