ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
使
to make; to use; envoy
shǐ
8 strokes · 亻 (person) + 吏 (official) — a person given an official errand · HSK 3
Where 使 comes from
A person 亻 beside an official 吏: someone dispatched on official business. Sending someone to do a task became causing things to happen: to make, to use.
使 in Chinese culture
使用 to use, 大使 ambassador ('great envoy'), 天使 angel ('heaven's envoy'). Grammar loves it: 使我高兴 'makes me happy' — the formal causative that essays and news lean on.
Example
使用 shǐyòng — to use
这个词怎么使用？
Zhège cí zěnme shǐyòng?
How is this word used?
How to remember it
A PERSON sent by an OFFICIAL — MADE to act, put to USE.
天使 'angel' is literally 'heaven's envoy' — missionaries coined it, and anime absorbed it.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 使
使用 shǐyòng
to use
大使 dàshǐ
ambassador
Related characters
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