漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
退: retreat, withdraw
Also: retire, resign, repel, expel, reject
⻌ carries the meaning · 艮 is drawn in
Three readings, and the words that use each
タイtai · on'yomi · in compounds
- 退屈なたいくつなtedious, bored
- 退廃的なたいはいてきなdegenerate, decadent
- 退学するたいがくするdrop out of school
- 退職するたいしょくするretire
- 退去するたいきょするdepart, leave, recede
- 退場するたいじょうするleave, exit
- 退院するたいいんするleave hospital
- 辞退するじたいするdecline an offer
- 衰退するすいたいするdecay, retreat
- 撤退するてったいするevacuate, withdraw, repeal
しりぞくshirizoku · kun'yomi · on its own
- 退くしりぞくretreat, recede, withdraw [v.i.]
しりぞけるshirizokeru · kun'yomi
- 退けるしりぞけるrepel, drive away, reject [v.t.]
Also read ひく, のく, のける, どく, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)皀 food vessel + 夊 downward foot
In oracle bone script, ideogrammic compound (會意): 皀 (“food vessel”) + 夊 (“downward foot”) – to leave the table after eating. Variants that depicted the vessel as 酉 or 豆 were common.
Source: Wiktionary, 退 (rev. 92162952), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Walking (辶) + boundary (艮). To "walk" back toward your own "boundary" instead of moving forward—the strategic or necessary act of retreating.”
Connections
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · tuì
Same form: 退 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 退 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 退 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin tuì most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.