推

Infer

Level 98

How this kanji evolved

Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.

The character 推 (tuī) evolved from ancient pictographs showing a hand (扌/手) pushing an object. In Liushutong, L04480 shows an early form with the hand radical combined with 隹 (bird), possibly representing 'pushing forward' or 'urging onward.' Over time, the character standardized to its current form meaning 'to push,' 'to infer,' or 'to recommend,' reflecting both physical pushing and metaphorical deduction. Arrived in Japan: The character 推 likely arrived in Japan during the 5th-6th centuries CE along with the broader introduction of Chinese writing systems, becoming part of the Japanese kanji repertoire with readings 'osu' (push) and 'sui' (in on readings).

Reading reference

Onyomi (音読み)

スイ

Kunyomi (訓読み)

お

Related Vocabulary

推奨
recommendation, endorsement
推薦
recommendation, referral, endorsement
推測
guess, conjecture
推定
presumption, assumption, estimation
推理
reasoning, inference, deduction, mystery genre, detective genre