Definitions
(adjective)
hot; pungent (taste)
(adjective)
laborious; difficult; suffering
(noun)
eighth heavenly stem
Etymology
Pictograph of a chisel-like tool. The meaning later shifted to "hard" and "laborious".
About
The character "辛" originates from a pictographic representation of an ancient tool used for branding or tattooing, which established its early semantic connection to crime and punishment. In its structural form, it serves as a radical in characters such as "辜" (guilt) and "辞" (to resign, originally involving legal speech), reflecting this penal association. Over time, its meaning shifted from the concrete instrument to abstract qualities, first denoting pungency or acridity in flavors, as in describing spicy food, and later extending to signify hardship, labor, and difficulty, as seen in modern compounds like "辛苦" (toil) and "辛辣" (pungent).
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
妈妈每天都很辛苦。
学习是一件辛苦的事。
这道菜味道很辛辣。
农民辛勤地劳动。
他经历了太多辛酸。
在辛苦工作之后他需要休息。
辛辣的批评有时能促进进步。
尽管生活辛劳她依然保持乐观。