About
跎 is a phono-semantic compound meaning to stumble, slip, or waste time. Its left side, the compressed foot radical ⻊ (足, zú), links it to walking, stumbling, and leg movements. The right side, 它 (tā), provides the pronunciation. The character is most commonly seen in the compound 蹉跎 (cuōtuó), which describes dawdling, letting time slip away fruitlessly, or encountering setbacks. This semantic shift from a physical misstep to the metaphorical slipping away of time shows how concrete actions represented by the foot radical extend to abstract temporal ideas.
Etymology Hide
Example Words
Report an issue
Flag incorrect definitions, examples, etymology, etc.