欧
ōuōu

Europe

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approved by Peter Olson · Dec 24, 2021, 06:22 PM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Dec 24, 2021, 06:22 PM

The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Changed fields: hint

Original meaning: vomit

Simplified form of 歐. Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 區 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "vomit". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

区
区 Sound component
qū area
欠
欠 Meaning component
qiàn, qian yawn, deficient
Change in meaning
欠 hints at the original meaning of 欧, "vomit", which is no longer the most common meaning of 欧 in modern Mandarin.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode