遲

• Velocity: Physical or metaphorical pace; a process that unfolds over a long duration.
• Chronology: Failure to meet a temporal mark or arriving after an appointed hour/sequence.
• Volition/Action: The act of postponing, lingering, hesitating, or stalling.

• Adjective: Describing a person (tardy) or a pace (slow).
• Adverb: Modifying an action (done slowly or belatedly).
• Verb: To delay, linger, or be slow in acting; may imply "stalling" or "hesitating" when appearing in a predicate position.

• vs. 慢: While both refer to speed, 慢 often describes a steady tempo or lack of urgency, whereas 遲 more frequently suggests a deficiency—being behind a required or expected pace.
• vs. 晚: 晚 is often absolute (e.g., evening, late in life) or refers to the clock; 遲 is typically relative to an expectation, deadline, or specific appointment.

// Tang-period reading: //djhi.

• Variants: U+905F (semantic variant); U+8FDF (simplified).

Avoid the reflex to render 遲 as "late" (chronological) by default. In philosophical or meditative contexts, a "slow" response may denote deliberation and virtue rather than a failure of punctuality.