献

獻
xiàn
#1,190 most
frequent character
offer, present, dedicate, donate
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

献 pairs 南 nán, which gives the sound, with 犬 dog. It first meant 'offer dog as sacrifice.' From there it grew to 'offer, present', 'donate', and 'show, display.' In the simplified form, 献 replaces 獻, and 南 comes from an older sound part, 鬳.

献 as a component in other characters

sound1 character
谳

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Example Sentences

他献身于公益事业。
tā xiànshēn yú gōngyìshìyè 。
He dedicates himself to public welfare.
我想把我的爱献给你。
wǒxiǎng bǎ wǒde ài xiàngěi nǐ 。
I want to dedicate my love to you.
他向学校献了一笔钱。
tā xiàng xuéxiào xiàn leyī bǐqián 。
He donated a sum of money to the school.

Words with similar meanings

奉献fèngxiàn
to contribute
More formal, emphasizes the act of giving selflessly and often includes the sense of sacrifice.
捐赠juānzèng
to donate
Specifically refers to giving money or tangible items, often for charitable purposes.

Homophones

HSK 5
县xiàn
county, PRC administrative division below prefecture 地區|地区[di4 qu4]
线xiàn
thread, string, wire, line, route
见xiàn
to appear, also written 現|现[xian4]
现xiàn
to appear, present, now, existing
限xiàn
to limit, to restrict, (bound form) limit

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