JŌYŌ KANJI · Secondary school
slow
slow · late · back · later
Readings
Official Jōyō readings in table order
On’yomi 音読み
Kun’yomi 訓読み
Origin and meaning
Movement combines with the sound element 犀 in the old form to express slow walking and lateness.
Written form
The official Jōyō table also prints the following parenthesized form beside 遅:
Compare manuscript and printed examples in the HNG historical glyph archive ↗. Where available, its dated samples document written forms; they do not establish the first use of this character in Japan.
Examples in the official table
- 遅延，遅刻，遅速
- 遅れる，遅れ
- 遅らす
- 遅い，遅咲き
Official notes
- ⇔後れる
When did it enter Japanese?
Chinese characters reached Japan through a long process of contact. Early inscribed objects and sixth-century Japanese names are documented; this is context for the writing system, not a first date for 遅.
遅 appears in the current Jōyō kanji table published on 30 November 2010. This records modern standard status, not the date the character was first used in Japan.
A dated first Japanese use for 遅 has not been verified in the sources attached to this entry.
Agency for Cultural Affairs: writing history ↗ · 2010 Jōyō notice ↗