Meaning & readings
intimidate, dignity, majesty, menace, threaten
On’yomi イ
Kun’yomi おど.す、おど.し、おど.かす
Nanori いさ、たけ、たけし
Origin
This character combines a woman (女) with a component that suggests a soldier or guard (戍) on each side. The idea appears to be that a woman flanked by armed guards presents an impressive, commanding presence—something that inspires awe and fear at once. Over time, this visual idea of being surrounded by protective or intimidating force came to mean intimidate, threaten, or the dignity and majesty that comes from power. The character's structure captures how authority and menace work: they rely on a display of force that makes others hesitate or bow down.
Components
- 戍
- 女
- 戍
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 38
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1103 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+05A01