没用
méi yòng · HSK 3
useless
🚫 没 (not have) + 用 (use) = 'no use' → useless
没 means 'not have / without' and 用 means 'use / function'. Together 没用 literally reads as 'without use' — i.e. useless or pointless. Common in everyday speech to dismiss something as ineffective.
没 — water 氵 + 殳 (hand with weapon)
Originally depicted something sinking or being submerged in water, combining the water radical 氵 with 殳, suggesting a hand reaching into a whirlpool. The core sense was 'to sink, drown, disappear under water.' From there it extended to 'to vanish, not have,' giving the modern negative meaning 'not, have 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.