佣 (yōng) is a Chinese character meaning “to hire”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 用 (to use; to employ), side by side, and takes 7 strokes. It has a second reading, yòng, which turns up in 佣金 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “to hire”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 用
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形拆分（简化字「佣」由「傭」省作，形旁亻，声旁用；只描述现代字形构成，不追溯上古来源）
Memory aid
A person (亻) you use (用) — someone hired to work for you.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 佣人yōng rénservant; domestic helper佣 = yōng
- 雇佣gù yōngto employ; to hire佣 = yōng
Go deeper
All readings
to hire
to hire; to employ; a hired worker
雇用；受雇做事的人。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 佣人yōng rénservant; domestic helper佣 = yōng
- 雇佣gù yōngto employ; to hire佣 = yōng
commission
commission; brokerage fee paid to a middleman
买卖成交后付给中间人的报酬。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 佣金yòng jīncommission; brokerage fee佣 = yòng
Sound component
用 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 佣 mean?
佣 (yōng) means to hire; to employ; a hired worker.
How do you pronounce 佣?
Its main reading is yōng. It also has a second reading, yòng, which only shows up in certain words such as 佣金 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 佣 sometimes pronounced yòng?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 佣金 it is read yòng.
What parts is 佣 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 用 (to use; to employ), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形拆分（简化字「佣」由「傭」省作，形旁亻，声旁用；只描述现代字形构成，不追溯上古来源）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 佣 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 佣?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 佣?
Common ones are 佣人 and 雇佣. The reading of 佣 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.