Dictionary › 系

系

xì

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 character level 1 Character Traditional 係

系 (xì) means "department; (formal) to be". It is an HSK 3.0 level 5 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 系 means

1. to connect
2. to relate to
3. to tie up
4. to bind
5. to be (literary)

Other readings

系 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• xìsystem; department; faculty
• jìto tie; to fasten; to button up
• xìto connect; to arrest; to worry

Example sentences

• 没关系！
  Never mind!
• 没关系。
  It doesn't matter.
• 联系我。
  Call me.
• 系上鞋带。
  Jìshang xiédài.
  Tie your shoelaces.
• 没有联系。
  There's no contact.
• 联系我们。
  Call us.

Words starting with 系

• 系统xì tǒngsystem
• 系列xì lièseries; set
• 系主任xì zhǔ rènhead of a (university) department; department chair
• 系数xì shùcoefficient; factor; modulus
• 系上jì shangto tie on; to buckle up; to fasten
• 系统性xì tǒng xìngsystematic
• 系列片xì liè piànfilm series
• 系出名门xì chū míng ménto come from a distinguished family
• 系放xì fàngto tag (an animal, for scientific research); to band (a bird)
• 系带xì dài(anatomy) frenulum
• 系统角色xì tǒng jué sènon-playable character (in a role-playing game)
• 系综xì zōng(physics) ensemble
• 系泊jì bóto moor
• 系囚xì qiúprisoner

Words containing 系

• 没关系méi guān xiit doesn't matter
• 关系guān xirelation; relationship; to concern
• 联系lián xìconnection; contact; relation
• 体系tǐ xìsystem; setup
• 联系人lián xì réncontact person
• 操作系统cāo zuò xì tǒngoperating system
• 人际关系rén jì guān xìinterpersonal relationship
• 语系yǔ xìlanguage family
• 维系wéi xìto maintain; to keep up; to hold together
• 性关系xìng guān xisexual relations; sexual contact; intercourse
• 社会关系shè huì guān xìsocial relation
• 英语系Yīng yǔ xìanglophone; English department
• 发生关系fā shēng guān xito have sexual relations with sb; to have dealings with
• 公共关系gōng gòng guān xìpublic relations
• 派系pài xìsect; faction
• 男女关系nán nǚ guān xìman-woman connection; intimate relationship
• 太阳系tài yáng xìsolar system
• 干系gān xìresponsibility
• 菜系cài xì(regional) cuisine
• 化学系huà xué xìdepartment of chemistry
• 神经系统shén jīng xì tǒng(anatomy) nervous system
• 银河系Yín hé xìMilky Way Galaxy; the galaxy (our galaxy)
• 生产关系shēng chǎn guān xìrelations between levels of production; socio-economic relations
• 生态系统shēng tài xì tǒngecosystem

Characters that look like 系

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 条tiáostrip; item; article
• 杀shāto kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce; (dialect) to smart
• 角jiǎoangle; corner; horn
• 卷juànscroll; book; volume
• 呈chéngto present to a superior; memorial; petition
• 鸢yuānkite (small hawk)

Sounds the same

Read xì, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 戏trick; drama; play
• 细thin or slender; finely particulate; thin and soft
• 隙crack; crevice; gap or interval
• 潟saline land; salt marsh
• 阋to argue; to quarrel
• 舄shoe; slipper
• 盻to glare at
• 禊semiannual ceremony of purification
• 饩grain ration; sacrificial victim
• 虩terrified
• 匸"cover" or "conceal" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 23)…
• 㣟to go; to walk

Where 系 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Systems, Connections & Details (HSK 5), HSK 1 Characters · Set 14 (HSK 1), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read xì correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.