恕 (shù) - forgive, pardon, excuse & to show forgiveness or forbearance

恕Tone 4

shù ｜ 10 strokes ｜ radical:

树檀

恕 · shù

forgive, pardon, excuse;

to show forgiveness or forbearance;

also used in expressions asking for forgiveness.

forgive, pardon, excuseto show forgiveness or forbearancealso used in expressions asking for forgiveness.

Usage highlights

forgive mebeg your pardonbroadreciprocity principlepardonableunforgivable

Synonyms

  • 宽— lenient, tolerant
  • 谅— understand, forgive
  • 容— tolerate, contain

Antonyms

  • 怨— resent, blame
  • 恨— hate, resentment
  • 惩— punish, penalize

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • Please forgive my rudeness (恕我冒犯).
  • I beg your pardon for being late (恕我迟到).
  • The principle of reciprocity is 'do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire' (己所不欲，勿施于人).
  • He asked for forgiveness with a sincere heart (他诚心请求宽恕).

Collocations

  • forgive me(恕我)
  • beg your pardon(恕罪)
  • broad-minded(宽恕)
  • reciprocity principle(恕道)
  • pardonable(可恕)
  • unforgivable(不可恕)

Idioms

  • Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire(己所不欲，勿施于人)
  • Loyalty and reciprocity(忠恕之道)
  • Forgiving others and strict with oneself(恕己严人)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • In Confucian philosophy, 恕 is one of the core virtues, often paired with 忠 (loyalty) as 忠恕之道 - the way of loyalty and reciprocity.
  • The character combines 如 (as/like) and 心 (heart), suggesting 'putting oneself in another's heart' or empathy.
  • It represents the Golden Rule concept in Chinese ethical thought - not doing to others what you wouldn't want done to yourself.

FAQ