遡
go upstream, retrace the past
Readings
On'yomi
- ソ
- サク
Kun'yomi
- さかのぼ.る
Meaning
遡 centers on moving against a current to reach an earlier point: going upstream or tracing events back through time.
Most common words using 遡
- 遡るさかのぼるN2
to go upstream; to go up (a river)
- 遡及そきゅう
retroactivity; retroaction; being retroactive (to)
- 遡行そこう
going upstream; sailing against the current
- 不遡及ふそきゅう
non-retroactivity
- 遡上そじょう
going upstream; swimming upstream
- 遡及書誌そきゅうしょし
retrospective bibliography
- 遡及法そきゅうほう
retroactive law; retrospective law
- 遡及的そきゅうてき
retroactive
- 遡求そきゅう
redemption; recourse
- 遡求権そきゅうけん
right of recourse; right for redemption
- 遡河魚そかぎょ
anadromous fish (fish that migrates upstream, e.g. salmon)
- 遡源さくげん
going to the source; tracing to the origin
Study
Etymology
遡 combines the movement radical 辶 with 朔, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of going back to the beginning, as in the first day of the lunar month.
Meaning mnemonic
The movement radical 辶 wraps around 朔, which suggests the start of a month. Picture walking backward along a river to its source, retracing the path to the beginning.
Reading mnemonic
For ソ, imagine going upstream in a small boat, rowing against the current: the sound of the oars is 'so, so' as you retrace the river's path.