字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

infancy, childhood

On’yomi ヨウ
Kun’yomi おさな.い
Nanori うぶ、わか

Origin

This character combines two parts to express the idea of childhood. The left component, 幺, serves as a sound hint telling you roughly how to pronounce the character. The right component, 力, which means "strength" or "power," suggests the physical weakness and dependence of a small child who lacks mature strength. Together, the components create a character that captures what childhood is: a time of limited power and ability.

幼 5 strokes

Components

  • 幺 sound hint left
  • 力 meaning part right

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

Common words

  • 幼い おさない very young; little
  • 幼子 おさなご infant; baby
  • 幼児 ようじ young child; toddler
  • 幼少 ようしょう infancy; childhood
  • 幼稚 ようち infancy
  • 幼虫 ようちゅう larva; grub
  • 乳幼児 にゅうようじ babies and preschool children
  • 幼稚園 ようちえん kindergarten (in Japan, non-compulsory education from age 3 until primary school); preschool

Related kanji

Same sound component 幺
Same radical
Shares components

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
52
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1227 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+05E7C