放 fàng — to put, to place, to lay down; to let go, to release, to set free; to let out, to give a holiday
fàng (fourth tone, falling)
to put, to place, to lay down; to let go, to release, to set free; to let out, to give a holiday
8 strokesRadical 攴Frequency #186
Pinyin
- fàng (fourth tone, falling)
to put, to place, to lay down; to let go, to release, to set free; to let out, to give a holiday
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿰方攵The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 方sound partno entry yet方 fāng for the sound.
- 攵meaning partno entry yetA hand with a stick: driving something away. The character first meant to banish.
Mnemonic
A hand with a stick 攵 driving something off, with 方 for the sound: the oldest sense is to banish. Everything modern follows from letting go — 放下 to put down, 放心 to set the heart at rest, 放假 to break up for a holiday, 放学 for school to let out, 开放 to open up.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.
Words containing 放
- 放fàng (fourth tone, falling)to put, to place, to set down
- 放弃放棄fàngqì (fourth tone, falling)to give up, to abandon (a plan, right, opportunity)
- 放心fàngxīn (fourth tone, falling)to set one’s mind at rest, to stop worrying
- 放下fàng (fourth tone, falling) xià (fourth tone, falling)to lay down
- 释放釋放shì (fourth tone, falling) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to release
- 开放開放kāi (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to bloom
- 放到fàng (fourth tone, falling) dào (fourth tone, falling)Put in
- 改革开放改革開放gǎi (third tone, dipping) gé (second tone, rising) kāi (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to reform and open to the outside world
- 解放jiě (third tone, dipping) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to liberate
- 播放bō (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to broadcast
- 放手fàng (fourth tone, falling) shǒu (third tone, dipping)to let go one's hold
- 放大fàng (fourth tone, falling) dà (fourth tone, falling)to enlarge
- 放假fàng (fourth tone, falling) jià (fourth tone, falling)to have a holiday or vacation
- 放过放過fàng (fourth tone, falling) guò (fourth tone, falling)to let off
- 发放發放fā (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to provide
- 放学放學fàng (fourth tone, falling) xué (second tone, rising)to dismiss students at the end of the school day
- 放射fàng (fourth tone, falling) shè (fourth tone, falling)to radiate
- 放置fàng (fourth tone, falling) zhì (fourth tone, falling)to put
- 存放cún (second tone, rising) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to deposit
- 放映fàng (fourth tone, falling) yìng (fourth tone, falling)to show (a movie)
- 摆放擺放bǎi (third tone, dipping) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to set up; to arrange; to lay out
- 放纵放縱fàng (fourth tone, falling) zòng (fourth tone, falling)to indulge
- 排放pái (second tone, rising) fàng (fourth tone, falling)emission
- 绽放綻放zhàn (fourth tone, falling) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to blossom
- 放肆fàng (fourth tone, falling) sì (fourth tone, falling)wanton
- 放水fàng (fourth tone, falling) shuǐ (third tone, dipping)to turn on the water
- 停放tíng (second tone, rising) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to park (a car etc)
- 燃放rán (second tone, rising) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to light
- 有的放矢yǒu (third tone, dipping) dì (fourth tone, falling) fàng (fourth tone, falling) shǐ (third tone, dipping)lit. to have a target in mind when shooting one's arrows (idiom)
- 放暑假fàng (fourth tone, falling) shǔ (third tone, dipping) jià (fourth tone, falling)The summer holidays
- 放松放鬆fàng (fourth tone, falling) sōng (first tone, high and level)to relax; to loosen