松 (sōng) — loose; to loosen; to relax | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

松 (sōng) covers both 'loose' (a belt) and 'loosen/relax' (shoelaces, a tight feeling). 放松 is the everyday verb 'to relax'; 松弛 describes body parts or rules as slack.

looseto loosento relax

Examples

松。
Zhè tiáo pí dài tài sōng le.
This belt is too loose.
松。
Qǐng sōng yí xià xié dài.
Please loosen your shoelaces.
松松。
Tǎng xià lái sōng yi sōng.
Lie down and relax a bit.

Origin

Sound + meaning

六书liùshū

形声xíngshēng

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

木公松

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùwood

Sound part声符shēngfú

公

公gōng松sōng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

松 uses 木 (wood) to show it is a tree, and 公 to give the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 6 Texture & Quality 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.