退却
tuì què · HSK 7
to retreat
🔙🐢 退 = retreat/withdraw + 却 = step back/decline = pull back, shrink away
Both characters carry a backward motion: 退 means to withdraw or move back, and 却 means to step back or decline. Stacked together they double down on the sense of pulling back and giving ground.
退 — walk radical 辶 + 艮 (stop/halt)
退 combines the walking/movement radical 辶 with 艮, which carries a sense of stopping or turning back. Together they depict the action of moving backward or withdrawing. The original sense of retreating or stepping back has remained stable through history.
却 — 去 (go) + 卩 (kneeling person)
Originally a phono-semantic compound with 卩 (a kneeling figure) suggesting retreat or yielding, and 去 providing the sound. The early sense was 'to step back' or 'reject,' which broadened into the modern meanings 'however' and 'but.' The seal-script form shows a person turning away.