失

Extended meanings: to miss, to let slip, to be negligent, to err (make a mistake).

A pictographic origin with later semantic extension.

Original conceptual image "something slipping from one's grasp."

First appears in bronze inscriptions (金文).

Depicts a hand (手) with an extra stroke – showing something slipping from the hand or being dropped.

In clerical script (隸書), the top part resembled 夫 (husband 부), but later evolved in regular script (楷書) into the current form 失.

Semantic development:

- physical loss — dropping or losing an object;

- failure — losing control or opportunity;

- error — mistake in action or judgment;

- deviation — losing correctness or balance.

It carries a strongly negative nuance (e.g., losing possessions, making mistakes, missing chances).

Appears in many negative compound words such as:

실수 (失手) — mistake

실패 (失敗) — failure

상실 (喪失) — loss

유실 (遺失) — loss; misplacement

득실 (得失) — gain and loss

실망 (失望) — disappointment

실업 (失業) — unemployment

과실 (過失) — fault, negligence

失 emphasizes:

- loss through mishandling;

- unintended error;

- failure due to slipping control.

Related characters:

得 — to obtain

敗 — defeat

錯 — mistake

亡 — perish

喪 — bereavement

Among these, 失 represents loss through error or accident.