字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

nickname, number, item, title, pseudonym, name, call

On’yomi ゴウ
Kun’yomi さけ.ぶ、よびな

Origin

The character 号 most likely developed from a picture of an open mouth or a horn, reflecting the original meaning of calling out or shouting. The vertical line represents sound or breath issuing forth, while the curved or box-like shape suggests an open mouth or the bell-like shape of a horn used to make announcements. From this basic sense of "calling out" or "announcing," the meaning expanded to include names and titles that people call things by, and eventually the more abstract sense of "number" or "item" as a way to label and identify things. This shift from a physical action of calling to a label or designation is why the character can mean both "to shout" and "nickname" or "number."

号 5 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (号).

  • 号 meaning part

Common words

  • 暗号 あんごう code; password
  • 記号 きごう sign; symbol
  • 元号 げんごう name of an imperial era (e.g. Heisei, Shōwa); Japanese era name
  • 号外 ごうがい newspaper extra
  • 号泣 ごうきゅう crying loudly; bawling
  • 号車 ごうしゃ suffix for train car numbers
  • 号令 ごうれい order (esp. to a number of people); command
  • 称号 しょうごう title; name

Related kanji

Same radical

Easily confused with

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

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
30
Formation type
Pictographic or simple
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#585 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+053F7