乌 wū crow
crow; rook; raven; dark
How it came to be
The bird block, with the eye left out. A crow is so black that you cannot see its eye against the head, and the character says so by taking the stroke away.
How it is used
- Means 'crow' and by extension 'black/dark' - 乌云 (wūyún) dark clouds; 乌黑 (wūhēi) jet-black.
- Also in 乌龟 (wūguī) tortoise and place names like 乌克兰 (Wūkèlán) Ukraine. The 'dark' sense drives most compounds.