欧 ōu Europe
Europe; ohm; surname
怎么记住“欧”: 区 area + 欠 to lack = Europe. The exchange student circles every area on the map where her grammar is still lacking, and her word list starts with Europe.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
欧 = 区 area + 欠 to lack
- 区 area sound
- 匚 side box
- 㐅 cross mark
- 欠 to lack meaning
The exchange student circles every area on the map where her grammar is still lacking, and her word list starts with Europe.
How it came to be
The full form first meant to vomit: the right part, breathing out, gives the meaning and the left part the sound.
用法
- Bound morpheme, essentially only meaningful in 欧洲 Ōuzhōu "Europe" and its derivatives like 欧元 Ōuyuán (euro) and 欧盟 Ōuméng (the EU).
- Also used as a transliteration syllable in some foreign names and as a Chinese surname (欧阳 Ōuyáng being a well-known two-character surname).
- As a physics unit it stands for "ohm", but this technical use is rare outside specialized text.