The kanji 庸 generally conveys the ideas of "common," "ordinary," "usual," or "mediocre." It often refers to things or people that are average, lacking special qualities, or typically found. It can also imply something that is not particularly exceptional or remarkable.

・On-yomi (音読み): ヨウ (you) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None, or very rare.

⚫︎ 有能と無能 Translation: Capable and incapable (lit. "having ability" and "having no ability") where the absence of 能 implies a lack of skill, and the 庸 is not in this case. ⚫︎ 庸俗 (ようぞく) Translation: Common; vulgar; mediocre. ⚫︎ 平庸 (へいよう) Translation: Commonplace; ordinary; mediocre.

The kanji 庸 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound. The left side is a radical, and the right side of the character is a phonetic component that provides the sound of the word. However, details of the exact formation are not widely agreed upon. One common interpretation suggests that the radical, 广 (gen), indicates a "house" or "shelter", and the phonetic component 用 (you), meaning "to use" or "utility," to provide sound. The combination might have originally indicated an ordinary or common house, and over time the meaning evolved to encompass ordinary or commonplace in general.