Meaning & readings
employee, member, number, the one in charge
On’yomi イン
Nanori いな、かず
Origin
This character combines two elements to represent a person in a defined role. The box shape at the top (口) represents an enclosed space or boundary, suggesting a defined position or group. Below it, the shell or treasure symbol (貝) originally referred to valuable items and came to represent goods or resources. Together, these parts suggest someone contained within an organization or position—a person counted as a member of a group or workforce. Over time, this became the standard way to write the word for employee or member.
Common words
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 10
- Kangxi radical
- 30
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #54 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+054E1