忍 (rěn): to bear; to endure; to tolerate

Meanings

1 to bear; to endure; to tolerate
2 to hold back; to restrain

Characters

忍

rěn

to endure; to bear; to tolerate

Examples

这种疼痛真的很难忍。

Zhèzhǒng téngtòng zhēnde hěn nán rěn.

This kind of pain is really hard to bear.

你再忍一忍，马上就好了。

Nǐ zài rěn yī rěn, mǎshàng jiù hǎole.

Bear with it a little longer; it'll be over soon.

我忍不了了！

Wǒ rěn bù liǎo le!

I can't take it anymore!

Tips

usage

忍 has a blade (刃 rèn) over a heart (心) — a blade pressing on the heart, something you must endure.

culture

忍 is valued in Chinese culture. The phrase 小不忍则乱大谋 (if you can't endure small things, you'll ruin big plans) is from Confucius.

Components

radical

心 xīn

heart

Heart radical at the bottom — the indexing radical. Endurance is felt in the heart. The full 心 form sits as the base (rather than the side variant 忄), and the character is read as 'a blade on the heart' = enduring pain. Same family of emotional verbs: 思, 想, 念, 怒, 急.

phonetic

刃 rèn

blade; edge

刃 (rèn) on top supplies an exact phonetic match — only the tone shifts. 刃 also gives a vivid semantic clue: a blade pressing on the heart below, the visceral image of enduring something painful. A rare case where the phonetic doubles as the most memorable mnemonic in the character.