Character of the Day

Fú. Here’s a useful one. It means to serve, to obey, to take (medicine), or clothing. The left part is yuè (月), which means moon, and the right part is fú (don’t have this by itself), which is an ancient character meaning rule. It combines with many other characters to make other words, so let’s check some of them out:

说服 – shuōfú (or shuìfú) means to persuade or to lobby
便服 – biànfú means casual clothes
叹服 – tànfú means to admire
信服 – xìnfú means to believe in
礼服 – lǐfú means ceremonial or formal dress
制服 – zhìfú means uniform
心服 – xīnfú means to admire sincerely
征服 – zhēngfú means to conquer
舒服 – shūfú means comfortable
和服 – héfú means kimono
屈服 – qūfú means to submit, to yield, or to accept defeat
衣服 – yīfú means clothing
克服 – kèfú means to overcome
服从 – fúcóng means to obey
服气 – fúqì means to concede or to be convinced
服侍 – fúshì means to serve or to attend to
服务 – fúwù means service
服役 – fúyì means military service
服用 – fúyòng means to take (medicine)
服装 – fúzhuāng means clothing, dress, garment, or costume
服毒 – fúdú means to take poison
服罪 – fúzuì means to plead guilty
服药 – fúyào means to take medicine
服帖 – fútiē means obedient, submissive, proper, or well handled

So, there they are. Clothing, war, debate, and servitude. All use fú. That’s all for today.