辛 (xīn): pungent

Meanings

1 pungent
2 laborious
3 suffering

Examples

辛苦

Xīnkǔ

hard; exhausting; toilsome

辛辣

Xīnlà

spicy; pungent; biting

Tips

memory

Pictograph of a tattooing needle — the pain of hard labor

Components

pictograph

辛 xīn

tattoo knife; bitter; toilsome

A pictograph of a tattoo knife used for branding criminals — long handle on top, sharp point at the bottom. The pain of branding gave the meaning bitter, harsh, toilsome (辛苦 hardship, 辛辣 spicy-pungent). Filed under itself as Kangxi radical #160. The visible 立+十 split has no independent meaning. Also the eighth heavenly stem.

Radical

Bitter Kangxi #160

The 'bitter/pungent' radical. Originally a pictograph of a tattooing knife used to mark criminals — extended to senses of punishment, hardship, and the sharp 'bitter' flavor. Indexes a small but evocative set: 辜 (crime), 辟 (open up / regal), 辨 (distinguish), 辩 (argue), 辫 (braid). Also surfaces as the eighth Heavenly Stem.