解

It is a compound ideograph, composed of:

角 (“horn”),

刀 (“knife”),

牛 (“ox, cow”).

The original meaning was “to cut apart an ox by separating its flesh, bones, and horns with a knife,” and from this sense developed the broader meaning “to separate, to resolve, to untie.”

In oracle bone inscriptions, the character shows the image of a cow’s horns being dismantled by two hands. By the time of small seal script (小篆), the hands were replaced with 刀 (knife), giving the modern form.

Because the idea of “untying/undoing” is highly versatile, 解 came to be used in a wide range of figurative meanings: “to explain, to interpret, to solve a problem, to understand.”

Thus, 解 carries the broad and versatile meaning of undoing, resolving, explaining, and understanding, making it one of the most productive characters in modern Korean compounds.

이해 (理解) – understanding

해석 (解釋) – interpretation

해방 (解放) – liberation, release

해체 (解體) – dismantling, disbanding

해약 (解約) – cancellation of a contract

해명 (解明) – clarification, explanation

𦴘, 觧