Meaning & readings
above, up
Origin
The character 上 appears to be a simple pictographic representation of the idea of "above" or "up." The horizontal line at the bottom represents a reference point or ground level, while the short vertical stroke above it points upward, creating a visual image of something positioned higher. This straightforward picture of vertical direction naturally came to mean "above," "up," or "superior position" in both Chinese and Japanese. The character's simplicity—just three strokes forming a basic directional indicator—made it easy to write and recognize, which helped it become one of the most common characters in East Asian writing systems.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Components
- 卜
- 一
Common words
- 以上 いじょう not less than ...; ... and over
- 右上 みぎうえ upper right
- 炎上 えんじょう going up in flames; destruction by fire (esp. of a large building)
- 屋上 おくじょう rooftop
- 海上 かいじょう (on the) sea; surface of the sea
- 机上 きじょう on the desk
- 極上 ごくじょう first-rate; finest quality
- 計上 けいじょう including (a cost) in a total calculation; appropriating (a sum of money)
Reference
- Strokes
- 3
- Kangxi radical
- 1
- Grade
- Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #35 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 4
- Unicode
- U+04E0A