衰 means “decline, weaken, wane”
おとろえる · otoroeru
- Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
- おとろえる
- On'yomi (Chinese reading)
- スイ
JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes
The story
The Shuowen says 衰 once meant a straw raincoat: a robe (衣) with a ragged patch in the middle. Picture it fraying with age. 衰える is to weaken or decline, 衰退 is decline, and 老衰 is the frailty of old age.
Used in 衰える (otoroeru, to weaken/decline), 衰退 (suitai, decline), and 老衰 (rousui, old age/natural death)
More from Grow & Wane
- 累 accumulate
- 堆 pile
- 旺 flourishing
- 耗 wear down
- 勃 sudden rise
- 展 unfold
- 張 stretch
- 拡 expand
- 盛 heap up
- 興 interest
- 縮 shrink
- 充 fill
Learn 衰 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji
Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.