What 奪 means
奪 means “to seize, take away, or deprive.”
In Chinese compounds it can extend to competing for or winning something; Japanese uses it in words about taking away or regaining.
Why can 奪 also mean losing?
Taking and losing meet in an old bird-and-hand explanation.
Bronze inscriptions show a hand taking a bird; the Shuowen, an early Chinese dictionary from China's Han dynasty, describes a hand holding a bird that is lost.
Classical Chinese also uses 奪 for losing or lacking, an older literary sense. The explanation links the meanings: what is taken can also be what is lost.
How do Chinese and Japanese use 奪?
The language and compound set the reading.
In Mandarin Chinese, 奪 is read duó, a one-syllable pronunciation with a rising tone. Japanese uses the verb 奪う for “take away”; compounds can read it だつ. In simplified Chinese, its paired form is 夺.
奪 is the traditional Chinese form paired with 夺; the compound tells you which sense is active.
Don't translate every 奪 as “steal”: it can mean winning, regaining, overshadowing, or, in older Chinese, losing.
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Who writes 奪
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What it means when someone sends it to you
4 readingsPinyin duó: one syllable with a rising tone; meanings include seize, deprive, compete for, or win.
Don't confuse it with
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Related characters
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Combination ideas
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How to type or find 奪
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- 奪 meaning · type 奪 · Japanese 奪 · duo · duó · ubau · datsu
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奪\596Aduo without tone marks, then select 奪; simplified settings may offer 夺.ubau for 奪う or datsu for compounds, then choose the kanji candidate.Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.