Meaning & readings
Shinto shrine, constellations, palace, princess
On’yomi キュウ、グウ、ク、クウ
Kun’yomi みや
Nanori ぐ、み
Origin
The character 宮 combines a roof (the top component, which represents a building or enclosed space) with 呂 below it, which originally depicted a musical instrument or resonant chamber. Together, these parts suggest a grand, resonant building—specifically a sacred or important structure. The combination came to mean both a Shinto shrine and a palace, both being significant buildings worthy of respect. Over time, it also came to refer to princesses and constellations, likely because shrines and palaces were seen as heavenly or exalted places.
Components
- 宀
- 呂
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 10
- Kangxi radical
- 40
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #367 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+05BAE