屈 (qū) — to bend (literally, e.g., 屈膝 kneel); to wrong, to treat unjustly (e.g., 委屈 feel wronged); to yield, to submit; also to subdue (e.g., 屈服 yield)
Definition
屈 (qū) is the literary verb 'to yield' or 'to be wronged' — used mostly in set forms like 屈服, 委屈, and 屈膝. Its concrete sense of 'to bend' survives mainly in classical/fixed phrases (屈膝 kneel, 不屈 unyielding), not everyday speech.
verb
to bend (literally, e.g., 屈膝 kneel)to wrongto treat unjustly (e.g., 委屈 feel wronged)to yieldto submitalso to subdue (e.g., 屈服 yield)
Examples
- 。Tā níng sǐ yě bù qū fú.He would rather die than yield.
- 。Nǐ kě bié wěi qū le tā de hǎo yì.Don't wrong his kind intentions.
- 。Lǎo rén zài mén kǒu qū xī xíng le gè lǐ.The old man bent his knee to bow at the door.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
屈 was built from 出 for sound and 尾 for tail; the tail part later changed into the top of 屈.
Appears in
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