不予
bù yú · HSK 7
to refuse
🚫 不予 = not + give — refuse to hand over
予 (yú) means to give or grant. Adding 不 (not) creates a formal refusal — to not grant, to withhold. Often seen in official or legal contexts for denying requests.
不 — single pictograph; bird flying upward
Originally a pictograph in oracle bone script, traditionally interpreted as a bird flying up toward the sky and unable to come down, suggesting negation or refusal. Over time it became the standard negation word in Chinese, used before verbs and adjectives to mean 'not'.