消 (xiāo) · to disappear; to vanish

Meanings

1 to disappear; to vanish
2 to eliminate; to cancel
3 to consume; to spend

Characters

消

xiāo

to disappear; to eliminate

Examples

HSK 4

因为下大雨，比赛取消了。

Yīnwei xià dàyǔ, bǐsài qǔxiāo le.

The match was canceled because of the heavy rain.

HSK 5

疼痛消失了。

Téngtòng xiāoshī le.

The pain disappeared.

Tips

usage

消 is in 消息 (news/message), 消失 (to disappear), 消费 (to consume/consumption), 取消 (to cancel), 消化 (to digest).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water

Three-drop water radical on the left, the side-form of 水. Original sense was water dwindling, ice melting, a puddle drying away - from there came 'vanish, eliminate, consume.' Anchors 消 in the family of liquid-state-change verbs alongside 流 (flow), 泡 (soak), 滴 (drip).

phonetic

肖 xiāo

to resemble

Right side supplies the sound exactly: xiāo. Same phonetic core in 销 (sell, melt down), 削 (peel), 宵 (night), 逍 (carefree) - a tight 肖-family. Pure phonetic loan; 肖's own 'resemble' meaning contributes nothing semantic.