Meaning & readings
stern, strictness, severity, rigidity
On’yomi ゲン、ゴン
Kun’yomi おごそ.か、きび.しい、いか.めしい、いつくし
Nanori いつ、いづ、きゅうら、とし
Origin
This character combines a top component that suggests something strict or rigorous with a bottom section that provides a sound hint for pronunciation. The upper part relates to the idea of severity and strictness, while the bottom component 敢 (which sounds like "gan") helps indicate how the character should be pronounced. Over time, these elements merged into a single character that carries the meaning of sternness and severity, with the pronunciation guided by the sound-bearing part below.
Components
- ⺍
- 厂敢
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 17
- Kangxi radical
- 27
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #638 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+053B3