葉落歸根 yè luò guī gēn

to return home in the end; homesick in old age

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. a falling leaf returns to the roots (idiom); everything has its ancestral home
  2. 2. In old age, an expatriate longs to return home.

Characters

Character Meaning
葉 yè
leaf; surname Ye; page
落 luò HSK 4
to fall or drop; to lower; to lag or fall behind
歸 guī
to return; to go back to; to belong to
根 gēn HSK 3
root; basis