悬 (xuán): to hang; to suspend

Meanings

1 to hang; to suspend
2 to worry; to be anxious
3 unresolved; outstanding

Characters

悬

xuán

to hang; to suspend

Examples

HSK 2

我心里一直悬着。

Wǒ xīnlǐ yīzhí xuán zhe.

I've been worried about it all along.

HSK 5

墙上悬着一幅画。

Qiángshàng xuán zhe yī fú huà.

A painting hangs on the wall.

HSK 7-9

这件事一直悬而未决。

Zhè jiàn shì yīzhí xuán'érwèijué.

This matter has remained unresolved.

Tips

usage

Common compounds: 悬崖 (cliff), 悬念 (suspense), 悬挂 (to hang/suspend), 悬而未决 (unresolved). The colloquial 心里悬着 means 'to feel uneasy.'

Components

radical

心 xīn

heart; mind

Bottom 心 (heart) - the indexing radical, in its full sitting-on-the-bottom form. Adds the inner sense: a hanging heart = anxiety, suspense, hanging in worry. Hence 悬念 (suspense), 悬挂 (hang up), 悬崖 (cliff - where the heart hangs over the edge).

phonetic

县 xiàn

county; to suspend (original)

Top 县 supplies the sound (xiàn → xuán, an alternation in the same phonetic family) and the original meaning: 县 itself once meant 'to hang up' - a severed head suspended from a tree was the literal etymon. When 县 was repurposed for 'county,' a heart was added below to keep the suspending sense alive. The result is 悬.