腿

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 腿 (tuǐ) for "leg" is composed of two parts: the radical 肉 (ròu) for "meat" and the phonetic component 退 (tuì) for "retreat". The combination of these two components suggests the idea of "the fleshy part that allows one to retreat". This character has been in use since the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC) and has remained largely unchanged in its form and meaning throughout Chinese history. It is also worth noting that the character 腿 is often used in combination with other characters to form compound words related to legs, such as 裤腿 (kùtuǐ) for "pant leg" and 腿脚 (tuǐjiǎo) for "legs and feet".