雇
gù · HSK 7
to hire
💼 户 (door/household) + 隹 (short-tailed bird) — hire someone to your house
雇 combines 户 (household) on the left with 隹 (bird) on the right. The phono-semantic logic: the household 户 gives the meaning of hiring someone into your home, while 隹 hints at the old sound. Used today for employ, hire, rent.
雇 — door 户 + short-tailed bird 隹
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 隹 (bird) gives the meaning and 户 (door) hints at the sound, referring to a migratory bird (a type of cuckoo). The meaning later shifted by loan to 'hire' or 'employ', as in 雇佣, while the original bird sense faded from common use.