Japanese word

帰還

Pronunciation

Romajikikan

Meaning

  • nounreturn home

Example

彼らの帰還は明日です。kare ra no ki kan wa asu de su

Their return is tomorrow.

Illustration for 帰還 (return home)

More examples

彼は長い旅を終え、故郷への帰還を決意しました。kare wa naga i tabi o o e ko kyō e no ki kan o ketsu i shi ma shi ta

After a long journey, he decided to return home.

Core concept

Expresses the completion of a journey by going back to the place or country one belongs to.

Common phrases

  • 故郷への帰還ko kyō e no ki kan

    return to one's homeland

  • 無事な帰還bu ji na ki kan

    safe return home

  • 帰還を待つki kan o ma tsu

    await the return

Similar words

帰宅kitaku: The act of returning to one's home after being away.
帰郷kikyō: The act of returning to one's hometown after living or traveling elsewhere.
帰国kikoku: The act of returning to one's own country after being abroad.

Definition in Japanese

離れていた場所や本来属する国などに戻ること。hana re te i ta ba sho ya hon rai zoku su ru kuni na do ni modo ru ko to

Word origin

帰 (ki, "return") and 還 (kan, "return or restore") form the Sino-Japanese compound 帰還 (kikan), whose parts both relate to going back.

Usage tips

  • In news and science-fiction contexts, 帰還 (kikan) commonly describes the return of a spacecraft or crew, giving the word a more formal tone than everyday expressions for going home.

Other meanings

  • repatriationnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 帰還するkikansurureturn homeverb
  • 帰還者kikanshareturneenoun

Word lists with this word