xié
verb #12,203

Meanings

  1. 1 to cooperate; to work together
  2. 2 to harmonize; to coordinate

Examples

Xiézhù wánchéng rènwu.
Assist in completing the task.
Xiéhuì chénglì le.
The association was established.

Tips

usage
协助 = to assist, 协会 = association, 协议 = agreement.

Components

radical
shí
ten; complete
Left indexing radical — the numeral ten, here read as 'all together, full set.' Marks in a small family of joining/totaling chars (, , ). The two crossed strokes evoke many things crossing paths, fitting the cooperative sense.
phonetic
bàn
to handle; manage
Right side supplies a faded sound (bàn drifted to xié through tone and onset shift) and reinforces meaning — 'to manage / take care of.' Pairing ten with handling gives 'many hands jointly managing,' the core of 协作 (cooperate) and 协调 (coordinate).

Stroke Order

xié