酉

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10th earthly branch: 5-7 p.m., 8th solar month (8th September-7th October), year of the Rooster; ancient Chinese compass point: 270° (west)

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Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Pictograph (象形字)

A vessel half-filled with wine

Components 兀日

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
酉阳土家族苗族自治县	Yǒu yáng Tǔ jiā zú Miáo zú Zì zhì xiàn	Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County in Chongqing 重慶\|重庆[Chong2 qing4]
酉牌时分	yǒu pái shí fēn	5-7 pm
酉阳县	Yǒu yáng Xiàn	Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County in Chongqing 重慶\|重庆[Chong2 qing4]
酉时	yǒu shí	5-7 pm (in the system of two-hour subdivisions used in former times)
酉阳	Yǒu yáng	Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County in Chongqing 重慶\|重庆[Chong2 qing4]
酉鸡	yǒu jī	Year 10, year of the Cock (e.g. 2005)
丁酉	dīng yǒu	thirty-fourth year D10 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1957 or 2017
己酉	jǐ yǒu	forty-sixth year F10 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1969 or 2029
乙酉	yǐ yǒu	twenty-second year B10 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 2005 or 2065
辛酉	xīn yǒu	fifty-eighth year H10 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1981 or 2041
癸酉	guǐ yǒu	tenth year J10 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1993 or 2053

These characters use 酉 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
酉 sound part	yǒu	wine; wine vessel; chemical
酥	sū	butter; crispy, flaky; fluffy, light