detach, separation, disjoin, digress
離 centers on breaking a connection: detaching, separating, disjoining, or moving away from a topic. The core idea is creating distance between things that were together.
離 combines 离 (a mythical beast or a phonetic element) with 隹 (bird). The original sense likely involved a bird taking flight or separating from a perch, extending to detachment and separation.
The left side 离 looks like a tangled mess, and the right side 隹 is a bird. Imagine a bird struggling to detach itself from a thorny bush, finally separating and flying away.
For リ, picture a bird detaching from a branch and flying away, leaving only a single leaf (リーフ, leaf) behind: leaf -> リ, and the separation is complete.
distance; range; interval
divorce
separation; partition; detachment; segregation; isolation
to separate; to part; to divide; to keep apart
withdrawal; secession; separation; breakaway
isolation; segregation; separation; quarantine
to be separated; to be apart; to be distant
long distance; long haul
long distance; tele-
takeoff
isolated island; outlying island
secession from a political party
employment separation; leaving one's job; losing one's job
short distance
short distance; short range; short-haul
to cut off (from); to separate; to detach; to sever; to uncouple
estrangement; alienation; disaffection; desertion; defection; breakaway
takeoff and landing
dispersion; separation; scattering; breakup
to pull apart; to separate
imperial villa; royal villa; detached palace
to be far apart (from); to be a long way off (from); to be remote; to be distant