yǔn

just

fair; to permit; to allow

Private (厶) + person (儿) = rising above self to permit fairly

The idea is a person (儿) rising above private self-interest (厶) to make a fair, impartial judgment. That balance between the personal and the just captures why 允 means both fairness and permission.

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A personSemantic
Something privateSemantic

老师许我们早点离开教室。

lǎo shī yǔn xǔ wǒ men zǎo diǎn lí kāi jiào shì。

The teacher allowed us to leave the classroom a bit early.

父母不许他在外面待太晚。

fù mǔ bù yǔn xǔ tā zài wài miàn dāi tài wǎn。

His parents do not permit him to stay out too late.

Words with 允

允当

yǔn dàng

proper

允准

yǔn zhǔn

to approve

允宜

yǔn yí

appropriate

允文允武

yǔn wén yǔn wǔ

equally proficient in intellectual and military affairs

允许

yǔn xǔ

to permit

允诺

yǔn nuò

to promise

公允

gōng yǔn

equitable; fair

公允价值

gōng yǔn jià zhí

fair value (accounting)

应允

yīng yǔn

to give one's assent

朱允炆

zhū yǔn wén

Zhu Yuanwen, personal name of second Ming Emperor Jianwen 建文[Jian4 Wen2]

祝允明

zhù yǔn míng

Zhu Yunming (1460-1526), Ming dynasty calligrapher

More characters with 厶