verb #22,315

Meanings

  1. 1 to know
  2. 2 all
  3. 3 in full detail

Examples

HSK 3
Tā duì zhèlǐ de qíngkuàng hěn shúxī.
He is very familiar with the situation here.
HSK 7-9
Xiángqíng qǐng láidiàn zīxún, wǒmen huì xīxīn jiědá.
Please call for details; we will answer attentively.

Tips

usage
Common in 熟悉 (familiar) and 悉心 (attentive).

Components

radical
xīn
heart; mind
Bottom is the indexing radical - pictograph of a heart with its four chambers. Combined with the discerning paw-print above, the whole character pictures the mind tracking every detail: to know in full. Puts in the mental-state family with think, imagine, feel.
semantic
biàn
distinguish; differentiate
Top - pictograph of an animal paw-print with claws splayed, the original graph for 'to distinguish by tracks.' Here it supplies the meaning of careful discrimination: making out fine differences. Same component appears in (turn, foreign) and (explain), all sharing this discerning sense.

Stroke Order