CJK character 遺

It marks what has been left behind, lost, or passed on.

The oldest known records of 遺 include bronze inscriptions from the Western Zhou period. Later forms appear in manuscripts from the ancient state of Chu and in small-seal script, an early standardized writing style. These records trace a written history; the character’s computer encoding is a much later chapter.

In one traditional analysis, 辵 is the movement element and 貴 supplies a sound cue. Another account starts from sending or giving, with loss and leaving behind developing from a transfer. Both connect the meanings to something moving away or being handed on.

Why does 遺 mean both leave and lose?

Its related senses track what moves away or remains behind.

In Mandarin, yí sounds roughly like “ee” with rising pitch and can mean lose, omit, forget, or leave behind; wèi sounds roughly like “way” with falling pitch and means give or hand over. Japanese compounds use イ (i, like “ee”) and ユイ (yui, roughly “you-ee”); in 遺す (のこす, nokosu), it means to leave something for later generations.

How is 遺 read in Chinese and Japanese?

The reading depends on language, word, and input method.

For Chinese input, type yi for the lose-or-leave reading or wei for give-or-hand-over; tone marks are usually omitted, and the input method’s output setting determines whether it returns 遺 or 遗. For Japanese, enter the full word in kana and convert the whole compound; a short reading alone can match more than one word.