nèi

inside

inner; internal; within; interior

enclosure (冂) + person (人) = inside

A person standing inside a bounded enclosure is naturally on the inside. The image is simple and complete: boundary above and around, person within.

+
PersonSemantic
An open enclosureSemantic

箱子有几件衣服。

xiāng zi nèi yǒu jǐ jiàn yī fu。

Inside the box there are a few pieces of clothing.

请在三天把这份报告交给我。

qǐng zài sān tiān nèi bǎ zhè fèn bào gào jiāo gěi wǒ。

Please hand this report to me within three days.

Words with 内

内酯

nèi zhǐ

lactone

锋芒内敛

fēng máng nèi liǎn

to be talented yet self-effacing (idiom)

卧内

wò nèi

bedroom

醋磺内酯钾

cù huáng nèi zhǐ jiǎ

acesulfame potassium; acesulfame K (an artificial sweetener)

里约热内卢

lǐ yuē rè nèi lú

Rio de Janeiro

重形式轻内容

zhòng xíng shì qīng nèi róng

heavy on form, light on substance

关内

guān nèi

the region inside the major mountain passes of ancient China

鸡内金

jī nèi jīn

chicken gizzard lining

马斯内

mǎ sī nèi

Jules Massenet (1842-1912), French composer

冯内果

féng nèi guǒ

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007), US writer

体内

tǐ nèi

within the body

黄帝内经

huáng dì nèi jīng

The Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon, medical text c. 300 BC

More characters with 冂