退让
tuì ràng · HSK 7
to back down
🚶↩️ 退让 = 退 retreat + 让 yield: step back and give way
退 means to retreat or move back; 让 means to yield or let someone pass. Together they mean to step aside, give way, or back down and concede a point.
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.
让 — speech radical 讠(言) + 襄 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 讠(言) 'speech' suggests the meaning, while 襄 supplies the sound. The original sense involved blaming or reproaching with words, then shifted through 'yield in argument' to today's meanings of 'yield, allow, let' and 'cause (someone to do something).'