弃

棄
qì
verb #3,954

Meanings

  1. 1 to abandon; to discard; to give up

Examples

HSK 4
Zhè tiáo lùshàng yǒu hěnduō bèi diūqì de lājī.
There is a lot of discarded trash along this road.
HSK 5
Búyào qīngyì fàngqì.
Don't give up easily.

Tips

usage
弃 is in 放弃 (fàngqì, to give up), 抛弃 (pāoqì, to abandon), 丢弃 (diūqì, to discard), and 废弃 (fèiqì, to discard/scrap).

Components

radical
廾 gǒng
two hands raised
Bottom radical 廾 - two hands lifting something together. Here the hands are doing the throwing, holding the basket that carries the discarded child away. The combined picture: hands + inverted child = the act of casting off.
semantic
亠 tóu
lid (top stroke pattern)
Top dot and horizontal - in 弃 these form the head of a stylised inverted 子 (child). In the traditional 棄 a baby was being held upside-down over a basket; the simplified 弃 preserves only this top-of-head silhouette.
semantic
厶 sī
private; selfish (here: body)
Middle two strokes - the body of the inverted child below its head. Together with the 亠 above, these form the upside-down 子 (child) silhouette that gives 弃 its abandonment imagery.

Stroke Order

弃 qì