Stroke count differs by region: in South Korea written with separated dot + 厶, counted as 12 strokes; in Taiwan written joined, counted as 11 strokes.

Pictophonetic origin with pictographic influence:
The ancient form depicts a basket (其, phonetic element) with a child placed inside, symbolizing abandonment.
Later standardized as a phono-semantic compound with 木 (나무 목, “wood”) as semantic element (added during later script stages) and 其 (기) as the phonetic component.
Interpretations of the original imagery vary: some say it shows the practice of discarding a dead child, others that it represents abandoning an infant due to poverty.

포기(抛棄) — abandonment, renunciation
폐기(廢棄) — discard, abolish
유기(遺棄) — desertion, forsaking, neglect
기각(棄却) — dismissal, rejection

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

rack, stand, prop, frame, framework

someone, a certain person, anonymous reference

pillar, post, column, to support, to hold up

to investigate, to examine, to check, to look into

root, foundation, basis, origin, cause, to take root

form, standard, rule, style, pattern

table, desk, plan, proposal, to think, to consider

branch, twig, item

to abandon, to discard, to give up, to throw away

board game, chess, Go

ridgepole, the main beam of a house

forest, woods, grove, dense, thick

to plant, to set up, to grow

sweetgum tree (Liquidambar formosana), maple tree

work, occupation, profession, task, business, enterprise, learning, studies, karma (in Buddhist context)

to the utmost, to exhaust, extreme, ultimate, end, utmost point

flower, glory, honor, prosperity, flourishing

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Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

棄

Etymology

Usage in Korean

Words that derived from 棄

Additional notes

Neighboring characters in the dictionary

References