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相

xiāng / xiàng
adverb #1,626

Meanings

  1. 1 each other
  2. 2 one another; mutually

Examples

我们应该相互帮助。
Wǒmen yīnggāi xiāng hù bāngzhù.
We should help each other.
这两件事息息相关。
Zhè liǎng jiàn shì xīxīxiāngguān.
These two events are closely linked.

Tips

usage
As an adverb 相 sits in front of a verb and means the action goes both ways: 相信 (to trust mutually → to believe), 相见 (to meet each other), 互相 (mutually). Same character shifts to 相 for the 'appearance / photo / minister' senses — see the separate entry.
memory
木 (tree) + 目 (eye) = two parties eyeing the same tree. Two-way looking = mutual. Hold that image for 相; the one-way looking (judging an appearance) shifted tone to 相.

Components

radical
目 mù
eye
Right side 目 (eye) — the indexing Kangxi radical (#109). Eye-on-tree captures the act of careful looking that powers every sense of this character. Same eye-radical family: 看 (look), 真 (true), 直 (straight).
semantic
木 mù
tree; wood
Left side 木 (tree) — the thing being looked at. The oldest sense of 相 was inspecting a tree for usable timber; from that concrete act of close examination both readings branched out — mutual looking (相) and the judged appearance (相).

Stroke Order

相 xiāng