字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

contain, form, looks

On’yomi ヨウ
Kun’yomi い.れる
Nanori かた、ひろ、まさ

Origin

The character 容 combines a roof radical 宀 on top — which classifies it as being about enclosed spaces or containment — with 谷 (valley) below, which serves as a sound hint for pronunciation rather than contributing to the meaning. The roof suggests something held within or protected, which naturally leads to meanings like "contain" or "hold inside." Over time, the sense of something contained also extended to "form" or "appearance" — what you hold or display in a space.

容 10 strokes

Components

  • 宀 radical top
  • 谷 sound hint bottom

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 寛容 かんよう tolerance; open-mindedness
  • 許容 きょよう permission; allowance
  • 形容 けいよう description; expression (in words)
  • 受容 じゅよう reception
  • 収容 しゅうよう accommodation; taking in
  • 陣容 じんよう battle formation; battle array
  • 全容 ぜんよう full portrait; whole aspect
  • 内容 ないよう contents; content

Related kanji

Same sound component 谷
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
40
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#264 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+05BB9