惜

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to cherish; to begrudge; to pity; Taiwan pr. [xi2]

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

To feel 忄 for the past 昔; 昔 also provides the pronunciation

Components 忄昔

rue · Heisig RSH #2239

state of mind + 昔 times past

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
食之无味，弃之可惜	shí zhī wú wèi , qì zhī kě xī	lit. to be hardly worth eating, but it would still be a pity to discard it (idiom); fig. s…
不惜一战	bù xī yī zhàn	to be ready to go to war
不惜血本	bù xī xuè běn	to spare no effort; to devote all one's energies
敬惜字纸	jìng xī zì zhǐ	to treasure written material as a cultural resource (idiom)
不惜	bù xī	not stint; not spare; not hesitate (to do sth); not scruple (to do sth)
爱惜羽毛	ài xī yǔ máo	(idiom) to cherish one's reputation
体惜	tǐ xī	to empathize; to understand and sympathize
可惜	kě xī	it is a pity; what a pity; unfortunately
惜命	xī mìng	to be mindful of one's health and safety
爱惜	ài xī	to cherish; to treasure; to use sparingly
惜福	xī fú	to appreciate one's good fortune
惜别	xī bié	reluctant to part
惜香怜玉	xī xiāng lián yù	see 憐香惜玉\|怜香惜玉[lian2 xiang1 xi1 yu4]
怜香惜玉	lián xiāng xī yù	to have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex (idiom)
痛惜	tòng xī	to lament
惜才	xī cái	to have an appreciation for talent in another person
惜寸阴	xī cùn yīn	to cherish every moment; to make good use of one's time
顾惜	gù xī	to take loving care of; to value
珍惜	zhēn xī	to treasure; to value; to cherish
惜售	xī shòu	to be reluctant to sell sth