气息
qìxí · HSK 7
breath
💨 气 (air/qi) + 息 (breath/rest) = the breath or air given off — a breath, a vibe
气 means air or vital energy; 息 means breath or to rest. Together the air that something gives off: literally breath, figuratively the feeling or aura a person or place puts out.
气 — steam/vapor radical 气
Originally a pictograph of rising vapor or clouds drifting in the sky, depicting curling streams of air. The character came to mean breath, air, and by extension vital energy or 'qi.' The simplified form 气 keeps the original outline; the traditional 氣 added 米 (rice) to suggest steam rising from cooking grain.