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息息相关 (xī xī xiāng guān) — closely interrelated; intimately linked

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning two things are so tightly connected that each directly affects the other. Often used in writing to stress that A and B cannot be separated (e.g., environment and health, policy and economy).

phrase
closely interrelatedintimately linked

Examples

  • 息息相关。
    Qì hòu biàn huà yǔ rén lèi de wèi lái xī xī xiāng guān.
    Climate change and the future of humanity are intimately related.
  • 息息相关，。
    Zhè liǎng gè qǐ yè de lì yì xī xī xiāng guān, hěn nán fēn kāi.
    The interests of these two enterprises are closely intertwined; they're hard to separate.
  • 息息相关，。
    Xué shù yán jiū yǔ shí jì yìng yòng xī xī xiāng guān, quē yī bù kě.
    Academic research and practical application are intimately linked; neither can be absent.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

息息breaths
息xībreath息xībreath
重叠Reduplication
相关mutually related
相xiāngmutual关guānrelate
偏正Modifier + head

The repeated 息 breath and 相关 mutually related combine to mean closely interlinked.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 息, 自 is nose and 心 is heart, showing breath or life passing through one's nose.

Open 息 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 息, 自 is nose and 心 is heart, showing breath or life passing through one's nose.

Open 息 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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