Several parts combine into one character.

羽 draws the feathers on a bird's two wings side by side — you can even see the barbs branching off the shaft. A pair of wing-feathers is the core meaning.

Mandarin: yǔ, 3rd tone. 羽毛 (yǔmáo, feather), 羽毛球 (yǔmáoqiú, badminton — "feather ball"), 羽绒服 (yǔróngfú, a down jacket — "down-feather clothing"). The name 项羽 (Xiàng Yǔ, the hero of the Chu–Han war) carries it too.

Japanese: on-reading ウ (u), kun は (ha) and はね (hane). 羽 (hane, wing / feather), 羽毛 (umō, plumage), 羽田 (Haneda, Tokyo's Haneda airport). In Japanese, birds are counted with 羽 — 一羽 (ichiwa), 二羽 (niwa).

Korean hanja-sound "u": 羽毛 (umo, plumage), 羽翼 (uik, wings). 羽 (U) is the last of the five classical East Asian musical tones (宮商角徵羽). A feather fan is 羽扇 (useon).

Memory aid: a pair of feathers with barbs spreading from the shaft — a bird's wings.