無用

むよう · muyou · JLPT N1 · na-adj

useless

🗑️ 無 (nothing) + 用 (use) = no use, useless; 'mu-yo' sounds like 'moo-yo', no use for a cow

無 means 'nothing' and 用 means 'use', so 無用 is literally 'no use'. Its on-reading mu-you matches the English 'mu-you-seless', a hook for the same idea.

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.

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