Meaning & readings
phrase, clause, sentence, passage, paragraph, counter for haiku
On’yomi ク
Nanori すく
Origin
The character 句 combines two simple elements: a curved container shape (勹) that wraps around, and a mouth or box shape (口) inside it. The wrapping container suggests something that holds or encloses, while the box represents speech or a unit of language. Together, they picture language being contained or bounded—much like a phrase or sentence is a bounded unit of spoken or written words. This visual idea of enclosed speech naturally led to the meaning "phrase" or "clause," and eventually the character became used to count sentences and poetic units like haiku.
Components
- 勹
- 口
Common words
- 禁句 きんく taboo word; forbidden topic
- 句集 くしゅう collection of haiku poems
- 語句 ごく words and phrases; words
- 絶句 ぜっく being lost for words; becoming speechless
- 俳句 はいく haiku; 17-mora poem, usu. in 3 lines of 5, 7 and 5 morae
- 文句 もんく complaint; grumbling
- 挙句 あげく after (a long process); at the end of
- 節句 せっく seasonal festival
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 5
- Kangxi radical
- 30
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #1244 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+053E5