親

• Kinship (narrow): parents.
• Kinship (broad): blood relatives or extended family.
• Intimacy: close friends, trusted confidants, or those held "dear" (non-biological proximity).

• Noun: a relative; a parent.
• Adjective: intimate, close, or dear.
• Verb: to treat with affection or familial tenderness; to visit or approach closely; in later usage, denoting an action performed personally (as in 親自).

// Contrast with 孝 (//xiào//): where //xiào* refers to the ethical obligation or duty of filial piety, 親 refers to the relationship itself or the object of that duty.

// Tang-period reading: //tsin.

• Simplified variant: U+4EB2.

• Avoid premature specification: Determine if the context implies blood relation or general intimacy before translating as "parents" to avoid unnecessarily narrowing the meaning of the passage.

// Collocations: When paired with 近 (//jìn*, near), the sense shifts strongly toward physical or psychological proximity rather than kinship.