退伍 (tuì wǔ) — to be demobilized; to be discharged from milita…

Definition

退伍 means to leave the military after one's term of service ends — completing duty and returning to civilian life. In mainland China it refers specifically to finishing one's conscript or service commitment.

verb

to be demobilizedto be discharged from military service

Examples

退伍，。
Tā qù nián tuì wǔ le, xiàn zài zài yì jiā gōng sī gōng zuò.
He was discharged last year and now works at a company.
，。
Gē ge tuì guò wǔ, suǒ yǐ shēn tǐ hěn hǎo.
My older brother was discharged from the army, so he is in good shape.
，退伍。
Tā dāng le bā nián bīng, jīn nián zhōng yú tuì wǔ le.
He served for eight years and was finally discharged this year.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

退tuìleave

伍wǔtroops

退 means leave or withdraw, and 伍 refers to the troops, giving the sense of leaving military service.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

亻五伍

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

五

五wǔ伍wǔ

Same sound today

伍 is written with 亻, a person, and 五, which gives the sound.

Open 伍 →

Appears in