Meaning & readings

abandon, throw away, discard, resign, reject, sacrifice

On’yomi
Kun’yomi す.てる

Origin

This character likely combines the image of a tree or wooden object with the concept of something being cast aside. The left side contains the tree radical, suggesting something made of wood or a natural object. The right side appears to show a hand or arm in a throwing or rejecting gesture, visually depicting the act of pushing something away or abandoning it. Together, the strokes create a picture of the physical action of discarding or throwing something down, which is why the character came to mean "abandon" or "throw away."

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

13 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (棄).

  • meaning part

Common words

  • 棄却 ききゃく rejection; dismissal
  • 棄権 きけん abstention (from voting); renunciation (of a right)
  • 自棄 やけ desperation; despair
  • 破棄 はき tearing up and discarding (e.g. documents); destruction
  • 廃棄 はいき disposal; abandonment
  • 放棄 ほうき abandonment; renouncement
  • 遺棄 いき abandonment; desertion
  • 投棄 とうき abandonment; giving up

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
75
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#901 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+068C4