不用
búyòng · HSK 1
need not
🙅 不 (not) + 用 (use) = no need to use → need not
不 negates and 用 means 'use', so 不用 literally says 'no use [doing it]'. Common polite reply meaning 'don't bother' or 'no need', e.g. 不用谢 = 'no need to thank'.
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'.
用 — pictograph of a bucket or wooden pail
用 originally depicted a bucket or container, possibly a sacrificial vessel made of wood. Over time it was borrowed to mean 'to use' or 'employ,' losing its concrete object sense. The modern meaning 'use' has been standard since early classical Chinese.