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释shì

Character evolution

释

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Simplified · Today

Shuowen

释 (traditional: 釋) combines 采 (to pick/select) as the semantic element with 睪 as the phonetic component, though the oracle bone form depicts a hand (爪 or 又) reaching toward an object, representing the act of releasing or letting go. The original meaning is therefore "to release, to free" – the hand releasing its grip on something. This core sense later extended to "to explain, to interpret" because explaining a matter is figuratively "releasing" or "untying" its meaning from obscurity.

Pinyin

shì· HSK 2