漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
由: wherefore, a reason
日 and 丨 carry the meaning
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Western Zhou Today
Oracle bone and bronze: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Four readings, and the words that use each
ユyu · on'yomi · in compounds
- 由来するゆらいするoriginate
- 経由するけいゆするgo by way of, go via
ユウyuu · on'yomi
- 自由じゆうfreedom
- 理由りゆうreason
ユイyui · on'yomi
- 由緒ゆいしょlineage
よしyoshi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 由よしmeans
Also read よる, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
Pictogram of new shoots or leaves growing from 木; possibly the original graph of 㽕, with its upper part later extracted as 由.
Source: Wiktionary, 由 (rev. 92162213), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The lifeblood of the village! Imagine a patchwork of green rice fields stretching across a fertile valley.”
Connections
由 gives its sound to
The family reading is ユ (yu). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Also read ユ
10 kanji share this on'yomiAlso read ユイ
3 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · yóu
Same form: 由 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 由 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 由 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin yóu most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.