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

HSK 4

请解释一下这个词。

Qǐng jiěshì yíxià zhège cí.

Please explain this word.

HSK 4

冰在阳光下慢慢解了。

Bīng zài yángguāng xià mànmàn jiě le.

The ice slowly melted in the sunlight.

HSK 5

面对复杂的局面，他冷静地解决了所有难题。

Miànduì fùzá de júmiàn, tā lěngjìng de jiějué le suǒyǒu nántí.

Facing a complex situation, he calmly solved all the difficult problems.

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.