赎

贖

shú

卖 + 贝

HSK 3.0Level 7

Definitions

shú to redeem; to ransom

Etymology

To sell 卖 a soul for money 贝; 卖 also provides the pronunciation

About

赎 (traditional 贖) is a phono-semantic compound: the radical 贝, "cowrie shell", denotes money or financial transactions, while the component 卖 (simplified from 賣, "to sell") provides the pronunciation and also conveys a commercial exchange. The character means to redeem, ransom, or atone through payment, using money or goods to free a person, recover pawned property, or settle a penalty, essentially buying back what was lost or owed.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Mid Western Zhou (~900 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

她赎回了她的戒指。

Tā shúhuí le tā de jièzhǐ.

She redeemed her ring.

他用赎金救回了人质。

Tā yòng shújīn jiù huí le rénzhì.

He used ransom to rescue the hostage.

赎罪需要真诚的忏悔。

Shúzuì xūyào zhēnchéng de chànhuǐ.

Atonement requires sincere repentance.

他们筹集资金赎回抵押的房屋。

Tāmen chóují zījīn shúhuí dǐyā de fángwū.

They raised funds to redeem the mortgaged house.

为了赎罪，他做了很多善事。

Wèile shúzuì, tā zuòle hěnduō shànshì.

To atone for his sins, he did many good deeds.

赎回那些债券需要一大笔钱。

Shúhuí nàxiē zhàiquàn xūyào yī dà bǐ qián.

Redeeming those bonds requires a large sum of money.

他希望通过捐款来赎自己的罪过。

Tā xīwàng tōngguò juānkuǎn lái shú zìjǐ de zuìguò.

He hopes to atone for his sins through donations.

在宗教中，赎罪往往与牺牲和奉献联系在一起。

Zài zōngjiào zhōng, shúzuì wǎngwǎng yǔ xīshēng hé fèngxiàn liánxì zài yīqǐ.

In religion, atonement is often associated with sacrifice and dedication.

Related Characters

Component: 卖

Component: 贝

赎