御用
yù​yòng

imperial

御 yù to govern, to resist

Original meaning: to use, to control

Depicts a person (卩) using a pestle (午). 午 also represents the sound. The 辵 (walk) component was later added to emphasize action. Based on the original meaning, “to use, to control”. The meaning later shifted to “to govern”. In simplified Chinese 御 is also used to mean "to resist", while in traditional Chinese this meaning is written with a separate character 禦.

Components

午
午 SoundIconic component
wǔ, wu noon

Depicts a pestle.

Change in sound
卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a kneeling person.

辵
辵 Meaning component
chuò walk
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 辵 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

禦

Meaning (1)

禦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjoXm-[qʰ](r)aʔ ward off; withstand
ngjoH[ŋ](r)a-s drive a chariot (loan)

說文解字

《說文》：“御，使馬也。从彳，从卸。馭，古文御。从又，从馬。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.132-133zi.tools漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

用 yòng, yong use

Original meaning: bucket

Depicts a bucket with a handle on the right side. Based on the original meaning "bucket". The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "use".

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

拥庸佣甬痈甯

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

佣甭

Iconic (1)

甫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartyowngHloŋ-s use (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“用，可施行也。从卜，从中。衛宏說。，古文用。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.253-254漢語多功能字庫林志強《《文源》評注》p.367
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)