Phono-semantic compound:
水 (물 수, “water”) — semantic, indicating a liquid.
由 (말미암을 유) — phonetic, giving the sound (yóu).
Originally meant a viscous liquid, then specialized to “oil/fat.”

石油 (석유) — petroleum, crude oil
食用油 (식용유) — cooking oil
油畫 (유화) — oil painting
潤滑油 (윤활유) — lubricant oil

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

breath, air, energy, vital force, spirit, vigor, atmosphere

long, eternal, everlasting

to seek, to request, to strive for, to beg, to ask

river, great river

to decide, to determine, to judge

steam, vapor, gas, fumes

to sink, to submerge, to drown, to vanish, to die, not, none

sand, grit, sandy shore or beach

oil, grease, fat

to govern, to rule, to cure, to treat (illness), to control, to regulate, to punish

situation, condition, state of affairs, furthermore, let alone

spring, fountain, source of water

law, rule, method, principle

wave, ripple, flow, undulation

to pour, to flow, to irrigate, to focus, to concentrate

ocean, vast sea

to wash, sprinkle, scatter water, purify

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Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

油

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Words that derived from 油

Neighboring characters in the dictionary