親

It is a phono-semantic compound, formed from:

見 (“to see”) as the semantic element;

亲 (chin, “kin, close”) as the phonetic element.

The combination reflects the idea of those one sees closely or directly, hence “family, intimacy, parents.”

Thus, 親 bridges the concepts of family, closeness, intimacy, and direct personal connection, making it one of the most fundamental relationship-related characters across East Asia.

친구 (親舊) – friend

친척 (親戚) – relatives

친부모 (親父母) – biological parents

친자식 (親子息) – biological child

친필 (親筆) – autograph, one’s own handwriting

친정 (親庭) – a married woman’s parental home

친선 (親善) – friendship, good relations

Notably, within the Chinese Character Proficiency Test (한자검정시험) levels, 親 is the only character with the Sino-Korean reading “chin.” This makes it one of the relatively rare “exclusive readings,” alongside characters like 凜 (름), 本 (본), 快 (쾌), 興 (흥).