Just as those overseas students who come to learn Chinese in China all know, one single Chinese character may have many meanings and applications. The character 安is one of them. First of all, it carries the meaning of being stable to form phrases like 心神不安. Of course, it can be used to make something stable like安邦定国. You may also learn the meaning of being satisfying with the present life or work such as 安于现状.
The most important and frequently used meaning you should know might be “safe” in the words like 公安、治安and转危为安. In daily life, you can also use it to express to make something in proper place like 安插and安顿. In addition, it carries the meaning of “to install or establish”. For example, you can make sentence like 咱们村安有线电视了.
If you hear Chinese people say安罪名or安个头衔, you should know the meaning of 安here is to add something. If you pay enough attention when you learn Chinese online free, you may know it has the meaning of having some ideas in somebody’s mind which is often used in oral Chinese. For example, you can say 你安的什么心? Of course, it can be a surname of Chinese people.
If you show great interest in ancient Chinese language, you may know 安was often used as an interrogative pronoun. When indicating the location, it means “where” like 而今安在? When being used in rhetorical question, it is similar to “how”. One phrase you often hear might be 不入虎穴，安得虎子？If you see this character in science books, it is possible to function as the abbreviation of the unit ampere.
The followings are some words and set phrases you may learn in Chinese language school. The word安邦定国we just mentioned implies to make the whole country stable and consolidated. When coming across安步当车, you should know it means to walk slowly, regarding it as taking bus. For example, 反正路也不远，我们还是安步当车吧.