解 (jiě): to untie; to undo; to loosen

Meanings

1 to untie; to undo; to loosen
2 to solve; to resolve
3 to explain; to interpret
4 to dissolve; to melt; to break apart
5 to understand; to comprehend

Characters

解

jiě

to untie; to solve; to explain

Using a knife 刀 to separate the horn 角 from an ox 牛 — taking apart, solving.

Examples

你能帮我解决这个问题吗？

Nǐ néng bāng wǒ jiějué zhège wèntí ma?

Can you help me solve this problem?

请解释一下这个词。

Qǐng jiěshì yíxià zhège cí.

Please explain this word.

冰在阳光下慢慢解了。

Bīng zài yángguāng xià mànmàn jiě le.

The ice slowly melted in the sunlight.

Tips

usage

As jiě, 解 is the everyday workhorse: anything that gets undone, taken apart, or figured out. Knot-untying (解开), problem-solving (解决), explanation (解释), understanding (理解), and dissolving (溶解) all share the 'pull-apart' core.

mistakes

Three readings to keep separate. jiě = untie / solve / explain (the everyday meaning, by far the most common). jiè = to transport under guard, appears in 押解 (escort a prisoner). xiè = the surname Xiè, plus the fixed compound 解数 (martial-arts technique; one's full repertoire). If the meaning is anything close to 'undo / figure out,' it's jiě.

Components

radical

角 jiǎo

horn

Horn radical on the left — the indexing radical and the focus of the action. 解 is one of the classic 会意 (compound-meaning) characters: the horn is the part being detached. The same radical also heads 触 (touch with horn) and 觉 (perceive).

semantic

刀 dāo

knife

Knife in the upper-right — the tool doing the cutting. Together with 角 (horn) and 牛 (ox) below, the picture is a butcher dismembering an ox: horn + knife + ox = to break apart. From this concrete butchery sense came every 'undoing' use — solving, explaining, untying.

semantic

牛 niú

ox

Ox at the bottom-right — the body being divided. The ancient cook of 庄子's 庖丁解牛 fable inhabits this character: he carves the ox so skilfully the blade never dulls. Whenever you see 解, recall the three-element scene — horn, knife, ox — and 'separate / untangle / solve' falls out naturally.