Meaning & readings

surplus, besides

On’yomi ジョウ
Kun’yomi あまつさえ、あま.り、あま.る

Origin

This character combines a sound hint with a meaning-bearing part. The right side is a knife or blade radical that signals this character relates to cutting or division. The left side, which looks like a pile or stacked shapes, serves as a sound hint for the character's pronunciation. Together they suggest the idea of what's left over after something has been divided or cut away — in other words, the surplus or remainder. The knife radical helps reinforce the sense of separation or division that creates that leftover amount.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

11 strokes

Components

  • sound hint left
  • radical right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 過剰 かじょう excess; surplus
  • 余剰 よじょう surplus; remainder
  • 剰余金 じょうよきん surplus; balance

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
18
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1448 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+05270