早退 (zǎo tuì) — to leave early (from a workplace, class, meeting, etc.); to retire early (from a job)

Definition

Leaving or quitting before the scheduled time — 'leave early' (class, meeting) or 'retire early' (job), with a slightly negative sense of breaking a commitment.

verb
to leave early (from a workplace, class, meeting, etc.)to retire early (from a job)

Examples

  • ，早退。
    Tā jīn tiān yīn wèi shēn tǐ bù shū fu, tí qián zǎo tuì le.
    He left early today because he felt unwell.
  • 早退，。
    Gōng sī guī dìng bù yǔn xǔ suí biàn zǎo tuì, chú fēi yǒu tè shū qíng kuàng.
    The company policy does not allow leaving early without special circumstances.
  • 早退，。
    Rú guǒ nǐ zǎo tuì, huì yǐng xiǎng dào tuán duì de jìn dù.
    If you leave early, it will affect the team's progress.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

早zǎoearly
退tuìleave

“早” means early and “退” means to leave, together meaning leaving before the usual time.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
棗
棗zǎo早zǎo
Same sound today

The form 早 pairs 日 (sun) with 棗, which gives the sound; an earlier shape of 早 was a picture of an acorn.

Open 早 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 皀皀jífood vessel
  • 夊夊suīdownward foot

退 originally showed 皀, a food vessel, with 夊, a downward foot, for leaving the table after eating. In modern 退, the vessel part 皀 changed into an unrelated shape.

Open 退 →
Appears in
School & EducationWorkplace & Office

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