Character 復

The whole word decides which return-related sense applies. 復 can mean return, recovery, repetition, reply, or retaliation. By itself, it does not tell you which sense is intended.

Where did 復 come from?

An earlier form already meant “return.” Oracle-bone inscriptions—early Chinese writing carved on bone or shell—show an ancestor represented as 复. One interpretation reads its shape as feet going into and out of a dwelling; the recorded sense is return.

Bronze inscriptions show a fuller form with 彳, a component associated with walking. From return, the character’s uses extend to restoration and doing something again. Classical Chinese also used it for answering or reporting back.

Is 復 the same as 复?

The right form depends on the writing system and word. Traditional Chinese and Japanese use 復 in words such as 回復 and 復習; Simplified Chinese writes 复 in those words. Simplified 复 also stands for traditional 複 in some compounds, so convert the whole word.

Fonts may draw 復 with different proportions, but that does not change the character. Replacing it with 复 changes the written form.