字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

build

On’yomi ケン、コン
Kun’yomi た.てる、た.て、-だ.て、た.つ
Nanori たけ、たつ、たて

Origin

The character 建 combines two components to express the idea of building. The left side, 廴, represents a person walking or moving forward, suggesting progression and action. The right component, 聿, originally depicted a brush or writing tool, which here contributes the sense of direction or purpose. Together, these parts create the image of purposeful forward movement leading to construction—a person advancing with intent to build something. Over time, this visual metaphor solidified into the character's primary meaning of "to build" or "to construct."

建 9 strokes

Components

  • 聿 meaning part position.nyoc
  • 廴 radical bottom-left wrap

Common words

  • 建議 けんぎ proposition; motion
  • 建国 けんこく founding of a nation
  • 建材 けんざい building material
  • 建設 けんせつ construction; establishment
  • 建造 けんぞう building; construction
  • 建築 けんちく construction; architecture (of buildings)
  • 建物 たてもの building
  • 建立 こんりゅう (act of) building (temple, monument, etc.); erection

Related kanji

Same radical
Shares components

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
54
Formation type
Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#300 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+05EFA