字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

recruit, campaign, gather (contributions), enlist, grow violent

On’yomi ボ
Kun’yomi つの.る

Origin

This character combines a sound hint with a meaning component. The top part, 莫, suggests the pronunciation "bo." The bottom part, 力, means strength or force, which indicates this character relates to physical power and effort. Together, these components suggest the idea of gathering strength or power—which connects to the meanings of recruiting people, enlisting them, or gathering contributions, since all involve bringing together and mobilizing effort and resources.

募 12 strokes

Components

  • 莫 sound hint top
  • 力 radical bottom

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

Common words

  • 応募 おうぼ application; subscription
  • 公募 こうぼ public appeal (e.g. for contributions); public advertisement (of a post)
  • 募る つのる to become stronger; to grow in intensity
  • 募金 ぼきん fundraising; collection of contributions
  • 募集 ぼしゅう recruitment; invitation
  • 応募者 おうぼしゃ applicant
  • 大募集 だいぼしゅう mass recruitment

Related kanji

Same sound component 莫
Same radical

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

Reference

Strokes
12
Kangxi radical
19
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#809 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+052DF