退票
tuì piào · HSK 6
to return a ticket
🎫 退票 = retreat + ticket — a ticket sent back for a refund
退 means withdraw or retreat. When a ticket (票) retreats, it goes back — either a returned ticket for refund or a check bouncing back unpaid.
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.
票 — fire 火 (bottom) + 覀 (cover/west)
Originally written with 火 (fire) below 覀, depicting sparks or embers rising from a fire. The early meaning was 'flying sparks' or 'light, floating thing.' Over time it shifted to mean a slip of paper, ticket, or note — something light and easily passed around.