遗

遺
yí
verb #15,743

Meanings

  1. 1 to leave behind
  2. 2 to lose
  3. 3 legacy

Examples

HSK 5
Tā duì méi gēn yéye gàobié gǎndào shēnshēn de yíhàn.
He felt deep regret for not saying goodbye to his grandfather.
HSK 5
Yéye gěi tā liúxià le yī dà bǐ yíchǎn.
Her grandfather left her a large inheritance.
HSK 5
Yǒuxiē tóngnián de jìyì yǒngyuǎn búhuì bèi yíwàng.
Some childhood memories will never be forgotten.

Tips

memory
辶 (walk) + 贵 (precious) - something precious left behind

Components

radical
辶 chuò
walk; motion (radical form of 辵)
Motion radical sweeping along the bottom-left - modern form of 辵. Indexes 遗 in the travel family with 进 advance, 边 edge, 通 to go through. The base sense of 遗 is 'to leave behind on the road' - something dropped or forgotten while moving - so 辶 carries the core image of the action.
phonetic
贵 guì
expensive; precious
Inside 贵 supplies the sound - guì shifted to yí through irregular Old-Chinese palatalization. 贵's 'precious thing' imagery (贝 cowrie under 中) also adds quiet flavour: what 遗 leaves behind is often a precious legacy - 遗产 inheritance, 遗物 relic, 遗嘱 last will.

Stroke Order

遗 yí