cóng

from; through; via

surname Cong; (bound form) to follow; (bound form) to obey; (bound form) to engage in (an activity); (used before a negative) ever; (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) retainer; attendant; (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate; (bound form) (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor

person (人) + person (人) = one following another

One person follows behind another — the visual logic is direct: two figures walking in the same direction encode following and compliance. This shape later extended to 'from' and 'via', the path one person traces after another.

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PersonSemantic

Words with 从

过从

guò cóng

to have relations with

遵从

zūn cóng

to comply with

随从

suí cóng

to accompany

顺从

shùn cóng

obedient

驯从

xùn cóng

tame

驺从

zōu cóng

mounted escort

一部二十四史,不知从何说起

yī bù èr shí sì shǐ , bù zhī cóng hé shuō qǐ

It's a long and intricate story, I hardly know where to start.

三从四德

sān cóng sì dé

Confucian moral injunctions for women, namely: obey in turn three men father, husband and son, plus the four virtues of morality 德[de2], physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功

主从

zhǔ cóng

master-slave (computing)

人从

rén cóng

retinue

人从众𠈌

rén cóng zhòng yú

(Internet slang) huge crowds of people (emphatic form of 人[ren2])

任从

rèn cóng

at one's discretion

More characters with 人