How to Write 佚 (yì) — Meaning “lost; missing (works)”

Picture a person (亻) dropping a piece of paper (think of 失 as a hand losing something). The person looks sad because their work is now lost — that visual helps you recall the meaning 'lost' or 'anonymous'.

The radical 亻 is narrow and sits on the left, while the right part 失 has a specific stroke order: first a left-falling stroke, then a horizontal, a hook, another left-falling, and finally a right-falling stroke. A common mistake is writing the last two strokes too close together, making the character look cramped.

The key difference is the right side: 佚 has 失 (lose), 仔 has 子 (child), and 仕 has 士 (scholar). Their meanings are also distinct: 佚 means 'lost', 仔 means 'young' or 'detailed', and 仕 means 'official' or 'to serve as an official'.

佚 is not common in daily conversation but appears in literary or historical contexts. You often see it in 佚名 (yì míng, anonymous) for unknown authors, or 佚事 (yì shì, anecdote) for lost or scattered stories. Culturally, it reflects the value placed on preserving ancient texts in Chinese tradition.

Common words containing 佚 include: 佚名 (yì míng) — anonymous; 佚事 (yì shì) — anecdote; 散佚 (sàn yì) — (of literature or art) lost / dispersed.