娱

yú to amuse

10 strokes

娱 (yú) is a Chinese character meaning “to amuse”. It is written from 女 (woman; female) and 吴 (Wu (a surname; name of an ancient state)), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.

Build the character for “to amuse”

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Structure

女 + 吴

Left–right structure

  • 女 woman; female · nǚ meaning
  • 吴 Wu (a surname; name of an ancient state) · wú sound

Structure from: 说文解字: 娛,樂也。从女吳聲 (简化后 吳→吴)

Memory aid

A woman (女) putting on a show for the people of Wu (吴) — that is entertainment. 吴 (wú) also carries the sound: wú → yú. Both parts are really in this character.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

10 strokes

In real words

  • 娱乐yú lèentertainment; to amuse娱 = yú
  • 文娱wén yúcultural recreation; arts and entertainment娱 = yú
Go deeper

All readings

yú main reading

to amuse

to amuse; to entertain; amusement; pleasure

使快乐;消遣、玩乐。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 娱乐yú lèentertainment; to amuse娱 = yú
  • 文娱wén yúcultural recreation; arts and entertainment娱 = yú

Other characters with these parts

女 → 奴奶她好如奸妃妄

吴 → 误

Easy to confuse with

误

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 娱 mean?

娱 (yú) means to amuse; to entertain; amusement; pleasure.

How do you pronounce 娱?

It is pronounced yú.

What parts is 娱 made of?

女 (woman; female) and 吴 (Wu (a surname; name of an ancient state)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 娛,樂也。从女吳聲 (简化后 吳→吴). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 娱 have?

10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 娱?

女. 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 娱?

Common ones are 娱乐 and 文娱. The reading of 娱 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.