滞留
zhì liú · HSK 7
to detain
🚧 滞 stagnant + 留 stay = stuck staying put = detained, held back, retained
留 (liú) is the common verb to stay or remain. 滞 adds the sense of stagnant or sluggish, so 滞留 is a staying that has clogged up: people or things held in place, detained or retained rather than moving on.
留 — 卯 (top) + 田 (field)
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 田 (field) suggests staying on the land, with 卯 hinting at the sound. Over time it came to mean 'remain, stay, keep,' as in keeping someone on the land or holding something in place. Modern uses include 留学 (study abroad) and 保留 (retain).