What is the oldest retracable meaning for the character/word 臾? 臾 (yu2) in classical Chinese means "for a while". 
I assume "for a while" was not the original meaning this character was associated with in the time when it came, by what mysterious brain activity ever, into this world. 
The oldest depiction of this character seem to be composed of hands reaching for a person.

Is "for a while" already the oldest retraceable meaning for this character or is there an older one?



i wonder what erich von däniken or david icke would have to tell about this character?
臾 is actually a verb meaning "to tie up and drag", hence what the character looked like. But it can be used together with 須 as a noun, i.e. as 須臾, to mean "a while". This practice emerged by the Warring States era and so is just about as ancient as the time the character took definitive shape..