The kanji 棄 generally conveys the meaning of "abandon," "discard," "reject," or "give up." It implies the act of letting something go, whether it's an object, an idea, or a responsibility. The core concept is removal or separation from something previously held or considered.

・On-yomi (音読み): キ (ki) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): す（てる） (suteru)

⚫︎ 放棄（ほうき） Translation: Abandonment; renunciation ⚫︎ 放棄物（ほうきぶつ） Translation: Abandoned property ⚫︎ 破棄（はき） Translation: Destruction; cancellation; annulment

The kanji 棄 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. It is formed by combining the radical 耂 (老: old, aged) and the phonetic component 其 (ki). The radical 耂 (老) can also be seen as representing the concept of something old and worn out. The character, therefore, originally visually represents something that is old or useless that should be cast away. The 其 portion gives a phonetic indication, contributing the sound "ki". Over time, the meaning evolved to represent abandonment in general, not just the discarding of the old.