绥 (suí) · to pacify, to bring peace to (a region)

Meanings

1 to pacify
2 to bring peace to (a region)
3 peace and well-being

Characters

绥

suí

to pacify

Examples

HSK 7-9

古代帝王以绥四方为己任。

Gǔdài dìwáng yǐ suí sìfāng wéi jǐrèn.

Ancient emperors took it as their duty to pacify the four directions.

HSK 7-9

顺颂时绥。

Shùn sòng shí suí.

Wishing you peace and well-being. (formal letter closing)

Tips

register

A literary character. Most common in (1) 绥靖 ("appeasement", often pejorative - e.g. 绥靖政策 "policy of appeasement" regarding pre-WWII Western diplomacy) and (2) formal letter closings such as 时绥 / 文绥.

history

The "pacify" meaning developed by extension - settling things into place.

Components

radical

纟 sī

silk (left radical form of 糸)

Left silk radical, side-form of 糸. The indexing element. Original sense was "silk cord for mounting a chariot" - the rope a rider grasped to pull himself up. From there: "to bring under control, to pacify" (绥靖 appeasement; the place name 绥远). Family: 绳, 绑, 绊.

phonetic

妥 tuǒ

appropriate; settled (here phonetic)

Right 妥 supplies the sound, drifting tuǒ → suí through t/s alternation. Strong semantic flavour: 妥 means "settled, appropriate," and 绥 is the silk-cord that brings everything to settlement - a pacified region, a calmed populace. The phonetic encodes the meaning. Same phonetic in 馁.