Meaning & readings
below, down, descend, give, low, inferior
Origin
This character most likely pictures something moving downward. The horizontal line at the top (一) represents a reference point or the ground level, while the angled stroke below it (卜) suggests downward motion or descent. The two strokes together create the visual idea of going from above to below, which is why the character means "down," "below," or "descend." This simple pictorial approach — showing direction through the arrangement of strokes — was efficient for early Chinese writing and became the standard way to write this very common concept.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Components
- 一
- 卜
Common words
- 以下 いか not exceeding ...; not more than ...
- 右下 みぎした lower right
- 下す くだす to make a decision; to draw a conclusion
- 下り くだり down-train; train heading toward the ending point of its route
- 下る くだる to descend; to go down
- 下位 かい low rank; lower position
- 下院 かいん lower house; lower legislative chamber
- 下火 したび dying down (of a fire); waning
Reference
- Strokes
- 3
- Kangxi radical
- 1
- Grade
- Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #97 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 4
- Unicode
- U+04E0B