仅次于
jǐn cì yú · HSK 7
preceded only by...
🥈 仅 only + 次 next-in-rank + 于 to = ranks only next to (so: second only to)
仅 means just/only, 次 means next or second-in-order, 于 marks the thing compared to. Stack them: the only thing it sits behind is X, so it takes the silver 🥈 spot right after the top.
仅 — 亻 person + 又 hand (right side 仅 simplified from 僅)
仅 is the simplified form of 僅. The traditional 僅 combines the person radical 亻 with 堇 (clay/scant), which carried the phonetic value and a sense of scarcity. Over time it came to mean 'only' or 'merely', and the simplified 仅 replaces 堇 with the simpler 又 (hand).
次 — 冫 ice + 欠 yawn/lack
Originally depicted a person (欠) sighing or hesitating, with 二 (later written 冫) marking repetition or a secondary position. The core sense developed from 'second in order' or 'next' into related meanings like 'sequence,' 'time/occurrence,' and 'inferior quality.'
于 — two horizontal strokes 二 + vertical hook 亅
于 originated as a pictograph of breath or sound flowing outward, depicting exhalation through a passage. In oracle bone script it resembled a curved line showing motion or extension. Over time it became a grammatical preposition meaning 'at,' 'in,' or 'to,' losing its original concrete sense.