係 (xì) - to connect, to relate to, to tie up, & used in various grammatical and relational contexts.

係Tone 4

xì ｜ 9 strokes ｜ radical:

万响

係 · xì

to connect, to relate to, to tie up, to be, to belong to;

used in various grammatical and relational contexts.

to connect, to relate to, to tie up,used in various grammatical and relational contexts.

Usage highlights

relationshipsystemseriescoefficientto beto detain

Synonyms

  • 关— to close; to concern; to involve
  • 联— to unite; to connect
  • 属— to belong to; category
  • 是— to be (modern standard)

Antonyms

  • 断— to break; to sever
  • 离— to leave; to separate
  • 分— to divide; to separate

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • This matter is related to national security (关系国家安全).
  • The suspect was detained by police (嫌疑犯被警方拘係).
  • He is my younger brother (他係我细佬).
  • The system consists of multiple components (系统係由多个组件组成).

Collocations

  • relationship(关系)
  • system(系统)
  • series(系列)
  • coefficient(系数)
  • to be(係)
  • to detain(拘係)

Idioms

  • No connection whatsoever(毫不相干)
  • Life and death are connected(生死攸关)
  • Closely related(息息相关)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In Classical Chinese, 係 was commonly used as a copula meaning 'to be', similar to modern 是.
  • The character appears in many technical and mathematical terms due to its meaning of 'connection' and 'relation'.
  • In Cantonese and other southern dialects, 係 remains the primary word for 'to be' in daily speech.

FAQ