Meaning & readings
tree trunk, main part, talent, capability
On’yomi カン
Kun’yomi みき
Nanori つよし、まさ、もと、えだ、き、くる、たかし、つね、とも、み、もとき、よし、より
Origin
This character combines two visual ideas to represent a tree trunk. The component 十, meaning "ten" or used as a cross shape, appears at the top and suggests the branching structure of a tree spreading outward. Below it, 早 originally depicted the sun or something rising early, but here it represents the solid base or body from which branches grow. Together, the character pictures the main woody stem of a tree, which then extended metaphorically to mean the "main part" or central element of anything, and eventually to describe someone's core talent or capability.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 13
- Kangxi radical
- 51
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #364 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+05E79