墜
crash, fall (down)
Readings
On'yomi
- ツイ
Kun'yomi
- お.ちる
- お.つ
Meaning
墜 centers on a heavy downward motion ending in impact or collapse: crashing, falling down, or dropping from a height.
Most common words using 墜
- 墜落ついらくN1
fall; crash (of an aircraft)
- 撃墜げきつい
shooting down (an aircraft)
- 失墜しっつい
abasement; fall; forfeiture; sinking (in people's estimation)
- 人気失墜にんきしっつい
decline in public favor; fall in popularity
- 墜死ついし
falling to one's death
- 墜落事故ついらくじこ
plane crash
- 墜落場所ついらくばしょ
crash site (esp. aircraft)
- 墜落死ついらくし
death by falling
- 巨星墜つきょせいおつ
a great man dies; a great star falls
Study
Etymology
墜 combines 隊 (which historically relates to a group or falling) with 土 (earth), suggesting something falling to the ground. The exact historical development of 隊 within 墜 is uncertain, but the overall phono-semantic structure is plausible.
Meaning mnemonic
The top 隊 looks like a formation of soldiers, and 土 is the ground. Picture a formation collapsing and crashing down to the earth.
Reading mnemonic
For ツイ, imagine a heavy object falling with a sharp 'tsui' sound as it hits the ground: tsui -> ツイ, and the crash echoes.