欧 ōu Europe
Europe; ohm; surname
How to remember 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.
Component breakdown
欧 = 区 area + 欠 to lack
- 区 area
- 匚 container
- 㐅 cross mark
- 欠 to lack
The exchange student circles every area on the map where her grammar is still lacking, and her word list starts with Europe.
How it is used
- 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.