遡さかのぼる

さ

か

の

ぼ

る

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

遡る · godan verb (-ru)

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	遡さかのぼる	遡さかのぼらない
Polite	遡さかのぼります	遡さかのぼりません
Past polite	遡さかのぼりました	遡さかのぼりませんでした
Past	遡さかのぼった	遡さかのぼらなかった
Te-form	遡さかのぼって	遡さかのぼらないで
Desire	遡さかのぼりたい	遡さかのぼりたくない
Potential	遡さかのぼれる	遡さかのぼれない
Passive	遡さかのぼられる	遡さかのぼられない
Causative	遡さかのぼらせる	遡さかのぼらせない
Causative passive	遡さかのぼらせられるalso 遡さかのぼらされる	遡さかのぼらせられないalso 遡さかのぼらされない
Volitional	遡さかのぼろう
Polite volitional	遡さかのぼりましょう
Imperative	遡さかのぼれ	遡さかのぼるな
Conditional	遡さかのぼれば	遡さかのぼらなければ
Tara conditional	遡さかのぼったら	遡さかのぼらなかったら

Meanings

godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb

go upstream; go up a river

usually written using kana alone

Physical movement against the current of a river or stream.

鮭さけは産さん卵らんのために川かわをさかのぼる。
Salmon go up the river to spawn.
私わたしたちは小こ舟ぶねで川かわをさかのぼった。
We went up the river in a small boat.

godan verb (-ru), intransitive verb

go back in time; date back to; trace back to; be retroactive

usually written using kana alone

Used for tracing origins, history, or making something effective from an earlier date. Often used with ～に or ～まで.

このお寺てらの歴れき史しは平へい安あん時じ代だいにさかのぼる。
The history of this temple dates back to the Heian period.
問もん題だいの原げん因いんをさかのぼって調しらべる。
We trace back the cause of the problem to investigate.
新あたらしい規き則そくは先せん月げつにさかのぼって適てき用ようされる。
The new rule will be applied retroactively to last month.

See all 86 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈場ば所しょ〉を遡さかのぼるto go upstream along a river/place
サケは川かわを遡さかのぼって産さん卵らん場ば所しょに向むかう。
Salmon swim upstream toward their spawning grounds.
〈時とき〉に遡さかのぼるto date back to a particular time
この祭まつりの起き源げんは江え戸ど時じ代だいに遡さかのぼる。
The origin of this festival dates back to the Edo period.
〈時とき〉まで遡さかのぼるto trace back as far as a certain time
調ちょう査さは10年ねん前まえまで遡さかのぼって行おこなわれた。
The investigation was carried out going back as far as ten years ago.
記き憶おくを遡さかのぼるto trace back through one's memory
記き憶おくを遡さかのぼると、あの日ひの出で来き事ごとがよみがえってきた。
As I traced my memory back, the events of that day came flooding back.

Kanji

遡go upstream, retrace the past
溯go upstream, retrace the past
泝go upstream
逆inverted, reverse, opposite
上above, up

Related words

遡そ及きゅう sense 2
遡及する is a formal, often legal/administrative verb for 'to be retroactive', while 遡る is the everyday verb used for tracing something back in time.
辿たどるN1
遡る means to go back in time or trace something to its origin, while 辿る is broader and covers tracing paths, clues, or even future courses of fate.

Opposites

下くだるN3sense 1
下る means to go downstream or down a slope, the opposite direction from 遡る's upstream or backward-in-time movement.

Don't confuse with

逆さからうN3sense 1
逆らう means to defy or resist (e.g. a current, an order), whereas 遡る simply describes moving against a current or back through time without implying defiance.

Written forms

遡さかのぼるUsage34%
Standard kanji spelling; the most common written form.
さかのぼるUsage62%
Kana spelling is very common and often preferred in everyday writing.
溯さかのぼるUsage4%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; 遡 is the standard.
泝さかのぼるUsage<1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; very uncommon.
逆さか上のぼる
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; may be encountered in older texts.

Etymology

Compound of 逆 (saka, 'reverse') + 上る (noboru, 'go up'). The kanji 遡 is a phono-semantic compound with 辶 (movement) and 朔 (saku, phonetic), originally meaning 'go against the current'.