Meaning & readings
preface, beginning, order, precedence, occasion, chance, incidentally
Origin
This character combines a shelter roof shape on the left with a component on the right that sounds like "yo" — matching the character's Chinese pronunciation. The roof radical suggests a covered space where things are arranged or organized, which connects to the meanings of order and sequence. Over time, the shelter image evolved into the idea of a place where things follow in an orderly way, leading to the meanings of preface (where something begins) and precedence (the ranking of things in sequence). The right side simply tells you how to pronounce it rather than adding its own meaning.
Components
- 广
- 予
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 7
- Kangxi radical
- 53
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #1160 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+05E8F