赎 (shú): to redeem, to ransom
赎 (shú) is a Chinese character meaning “to redeem.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 贝 (structural) and 卖 (structural). It ranks #2671 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 赎 to sell 卖 a soul for money 贝; 卖 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, abbr. for Guizhou Province 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1]), 负 (fù, to bear), 责 (zé, responsibility).
Definitions
- to redeem
- to ransom
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo sell 卖 a soul for money 贝; 卖 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰贝卖 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 赎 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 赎金 | shú jīn | ransom |
| 赎罪 | shú zuì | to atone for one's crime |
| 赎回 | shú huí | to redeem |
| 赎款 | shú kuǎn | ransom |
| 赎罪日战争 | shú zuì rì zhàn zhēng | the Yom Kippur war of October 1973 between Israel and her Arab neighbors |
| 将功赎罪 | jiāng gōng shú zuì | to atone for one's crimes by meritorious acts |
| 苦行赎罪 | kǔ xíng shú zuì | penance (to atone for a sin) |
| 立功赎罪 | lì gōng shú zuì | to redeem oneself |
| 赎罪日 | shú zuì rì | Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement (Jewish holiday) |
| 救赎主 | jiù shú zhǔ | Redeemer |
| 掳人勒赎 | lǔ rén lè shú | to kidnap for ransom |
| 找赎 | zhǎo shú | (dialect) to give change |
| 赎价 | shú jià | price paid to redeem an object |
| 救赎 | jiù shú | to redeem |
赎 appears in 14 compound words: 50 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 29 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 赎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (3)
Example Sentences
老师教我们赎字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men shú zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "赎."
私募信贷危机|彭博..首季投资者赎回额破千亿 大摩等就赎回设限
sī mù xìn dài wēi jī 彭 bó . . shǒu jì tóu zī zhě shú huí é pò qiān yì dà mó děng jiù shú huí shè xiàn
Private Credit Crisis | Bloomberg... First-Quarter Investor Redemptions Exceed 100 Billion; Morgan Stanley and Others Impose Redemption Limits
家人三度赎身均失败 晚安小鸡被骗1300万
jiā rén sān dù shú shēn jūn shī bài wǎn ān xiǎo jī bèi piàn 1 3 0 0 wàn
Family's Three Attempts to Buy Him Back Failed; "Good Night, Little Chicken" Scammed Out of 13 Million
沃达丰宣布赎回2028年到期美元债券
wò dá fēng xuān bù shú huí 2 0 2 8 nián dào qī měi yuán zhài quàn
Vodafone announced the redemption of US dollar bonds due 2028
SSE将于4月14日赎回6亿英镑资本证券
S S E jiāng yú 4 yuè 1 4 rì shú huí 6 yì yīng bàng zī běn zhèng quàn
SSE will redeem £600 million of capital securities on April 14
NBA|谢伦格连绝杀三分救赎 太阳双加时险胜魔术(有片)
N B A xiè lún gé lián jué shā sān fēn jiù shú tài yáng shuāng jiā shí xiǎn shèng mó shù ( yǒu piàn )
NBA|Sherlen Grengren redeemed the Suns in double overtime and narrowly defeated the Magic (with video)
合作是人类唯一的救赎。
Hézuò shì rénlèi wéiyī de jiùshú.
The only thing that will redeem mankind is co-operation.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 赎 (shú) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 赎?
What are the components of 赎?
What are common words containing 赎?
What characters sound the same as 赎 (shú)?
Is 赎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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