解脱
jiětuō · HSK 7
free oneself
🕊️ 解 untie + 脱 shed/escape = untie and slip free of worldly burdens
解 means to untie or loosen, 脱 means to take off or shed (as a snake sheds skin). Together: to loosen the knots and slip out, i.e. extricate yourself and be released from worldly cares.
解 — horn 角 + knife 刀 + ox 牛
解 is an ideograph showing hands using a knife (刀) to separate the horn (角) from an ox (牛). The original meaning was to butcher or dismember an ox, which broadened to 'untie, separate, loosen,' and then extended figuratively to 'explain' or 'understand'—to take something apart mentally.
脱 — flesh radical 月 (肉) + 兑 tuì (phonetic)
脱 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The flesh radical 月 (from 肉) signals the body, while 兑 supplies the sound. Originally it meant shedding flesh or skin, like a snake molting, and broadened to mean 'to take off, slip off, or escape.'