About
侑 is a phono-semantic character combining the semantic radical 亻 (person, human action) with the phonetic 有 (to have). Originally it meant to urge a guest to eat and drink at a banquet, later broadening to entertaining, accompanying, or assisting a superior. Historically, it described offering food or music to spirits in sacrifices and to guests at formal feasts. Today it is rare in everyday language but endures in classical contexts and compounds relating to formal hospitality, accompaniment, and showing courtesy.
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