休

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to rest; to stop doing sth for a period of time; to cease; (imperative) don't

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A person 亻 leaning against a tree 木

Components 亻木

rest · Heisig RSH #812

人 person + 木 tree

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
休息	xiū xi	rest; to rest
一不做，二不休	yī bù zuò , èr bù xiū	lit. either don't do it, or don't rest (idiom); fig. if you do it at all, you may as well …
不死不休	bù sǐ bù xiū	to fight to one's last gasp
公休日	gōng xiū rì	public holiday
周休二日	zhōu xiū èr rì	(Tw) two-day weekend (usually Saturday and Sunday)
休宁县	Xiū níng Xiàn	Xiuning, a county in Huangshan City 黃山市\|黄山市[Huang2 shan1 Shi4], Anhui
双休日	shuāng xiū rì	two-day weekend
无休无止	wú xiū wú zhǐ	ceaseless; endless (idiom)
不休	bù xiū	endlessly; ceaselessly
休市	xiū shì	to close the market (for a holiday or overnight etc)
休学	xiū xué	to suspend schooling; to defer study
休会	xiū huì	to adjourn
公共休息室	gōng gòng xiū xī shì	shared lounge; common room
休克	xiū kè	(medicine) (loanword) shock; to go into shock
休养生息	xiū yǎng shēng xī	to recover; to recuperate
公休	gōng xiū	to have a public holiday; to have an official holiday; (Tw) (of a business establishment) …
休伊特	Xiū yī tè	(surname) Hewitt
病休	bìng xiū	to be on sick leave
退休金	tuì xiū jīn	retirement pension; pension payments received after retirement
休氏旋木雀	Xiū shì xuán mù què	(bird species of China) Hume's treecreeper (Certhia manipurensis)

These characters use 休 as their sound component — compare how they read.