踟躕

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (踟躕/踟蹰)		踟	躕/蹰
simp. (踟蹰)		踟	蹰
alternative forms		踟𨅒 踟跦 跢跦 踟躇

Etymology

Cognate with 躑躅 (OC *deɡ doɡ), 躊躇 (OC *du da), 彳亍 (OC *tʰeɡ toɡs/tʰoɡ), all meaning "walking slowly or with difficulty > hesitant".

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chíchú

  (Zhuyin): ㄔˊ ㄔㄨˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ci⁴ cyu⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chíchú
    • Zhuyin: ㄔˊ ㄔㄨˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chíhchú
    • Wade–Giles: chʻih²-chʻu²
    • Yale: chŕ-chú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyrchwu
    • Palladius: чичу (čiču)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ci⁴ cyu⁴
    • Yale: chìh chyùh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsi⁴ tsy⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: qi⁴ qu⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰiː²¹ t͡sʰyː²¹/

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• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[d]re  [d]ro/

  (Zhengzhang): /*de  do/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	踟	躕
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	chí	chú
Middle Chinese	‹ drje ›	‹ drju ›
Old Chinese	/*[d]re/	/*[d]ro/
English	踟躕 *[d]re.[d]ro walk hesitatingly	踟躕 drje.drjo walk hesitatingly
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	踟	躕
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11500	17642
Phonetic component	矢	壴
Rime group	支	侯
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	馳	廚
Old Chinese	/*de/	/*do/

Verb

踟躕

1. to walk back and forth

   • 靜女其姝，俟我於城隅。愛而不見，搔首踟躕。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     静女其姝，俟我于城隅。爱而不见，搔首踟蹰。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Jìng nǚ qí shū, sì wǒ yú chéng yú. Ài ér bú jiàn, sāo shǒu chíchú. [Pinyin]

     The silent girl is beautiful. She waits for me at the corner of the city. Loving yet not seeing her, I scratch my head and walk back and forth.

2. (figurative) to waver; to hesitate

Synonyms

• (to walk back and forth):

• 彷徨 (pánghuáng)
• 徘徊
• 盤旋／盘旋 (pánxuán)
• 盤桓／盘桓 (pánhuán)
• 走來走去／走来走去 (zǒuláizǒuqù)
• 躑躅／踯躅 (zhízhú)

 

• (to hesitate):

• 反顧／反顾 (fǎngù) (literary)
• 彳亍 (chìchù) (literary, figurative)
• 彷徨 (pánghuáng) (figurative)
• 徘徊 (figurative)
• 拿不定主意 (nábùdìng zhǔyì)
• 游移 (yóuyí)
• 猶疑／犹疑 (yóuyí)
• 猶豫／犹豫 (yóuyù)
• 疑蟯／疑蛲 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 盤桓／盘桓 (pánhuán) (figurative)
• 膩／腻 (nyi⁴) (Sichuanese)
• 躊躇／踌躇 (chóuchú)
• 巡巡 (xúnxún) (literary)
• 逡巡 (qūnxún) (literary)
• 遲疑／迟疑 (chíyí)

 

Derived terms

• 搔首踟躕／搔首踟蹰
• 步踟躕／步踟蹰