字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

encourage, be diligent, inspire

On’yomi レイ
Kun’yomi はげ.む、はげ.ます

Origin

The character 励 combines a sound hint on the left that indicates its pronunciation with the symbol for "power" or "strength" on the right. The left side, made up of strokes that suggest a cliff or slope, provides a rough phonetic clue. The right component, 力, meaning strength or effort, carries the core sense of the character—when you have the power or force to push yourself forward, you are being diligent or encouraged. Together, the shape evolved to represent the idea of exerting one's strength and energy, which is why it means to encourage or inspire someone to be diligent.

励 7 strokes

Components

  • 厂+万 sound hint left
  • 力 radical right

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

Common words

  • 激励 げきれい encouragement; spurring (on)
  • 奨励 しょうれい encouragement; promotion
  • 励み はげみ encouragement; incentive
  • 励む はげむ to work hard; to try hard
  • 励ます はげます to encourage; to cheer on
  • 励まし はげまし encouragement; cheering on

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
7
Kangxi radical
19
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1254 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+052B1