休息

Etymology · 词源

“休”早期字形表现人倚着树，本义是停下来歇息；“息”由“自”（早期表示鼻子）和“心”构成，最初与呼吸有关，后来引申为停止劳作、恢复体力。“休息”把两个相近的意思合在一起，就是让身体或精神暂停活动并恢复。

休 originally pictures a person resting by a tree. 息 combines 自—an early form meaning “nose”—with 心 “heart” and first referred to breathing, then extended to resting. Together, 休息 means to pause physical or mental activity and recover.

Learning picture · 记忆提示：A person rests by a tree and lets the breath settle. This is a learning aid based on the documented character histories, not a claim that the modern word was invented as a picture-story.