Meaning & readings
officer, an official
On’yomi リ
Nanori さと、し
Origin
This character combines two elements: the box or mouth symbol (口), which often represents official matters or speech, and the tall measure symbol (丈), which appears twice to emphasize authority or stature. The repetition of the taller element suggests someone of standing or rank, while the mouth component indicates their role involves giving orders and handling official business. Together, these parts evoke the idea of a person in an official position—someone with authority who speaks on behalf of the government.
Common words
- 官吏 かんり government official; public servant
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 6
- Kangxi radical
- 30
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- —
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+0540F