惜 = 忄 + 昔

惜 is a Chinese hanzi, listed here under the keyword “pity”. It is built from 忄 (heart) and 昔 (formerly).

Keyword: pity
Pinyin (Mandarin): xī
Script: Chinese hanzi
Also known as: pity, regret, rue, begrudge, жалость, рута, сожаление, regret, rue, begrudge
Same glyph as a Japanese kanji: 惜 pity

Decomposition

ids

忄 heart
昔 formerly

How to find 惜 without knowing its reading

On KumiJi Glyph Explorer, open the parts search and type “heart” + “formerly”. 惜 is among the results, together with every other character containing the same shapes.

Open 惜 in the interactive kanji search to expand every part down to its smallest pieces, add your own names and mnemonic stories, or search for other characters by their parts.