Meaning & readings

strong

On’yomi キョウ、ゴウ
Kun’yomi つよ.い、つよ.まる、つよ.める、し.いる、こわ.い
Nanori すね

Origin

The character most likely combines two elements: the left side represents muscle or physical form, while the right side adds a sound hint for pronunciation. The overall shape evolved to represent the idea of physical power and strength. Over time, the visual elements became more abstract through repeated writing, but the character retained its meaning of being strong or powerful. This makes sense because strength is fundamentally a physical quality that ancient writers could depict through body-related imagery.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

11 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (強).

  • meaning part

Common words

  • 頑強 がんきょう stubborn; dogged
  • 強い つよい strong; potent
  • 強さ つよさ strength; power
  • 強み つよみ forte; strong point
  • 強引 ごういん overbearing; coercive
  • 強化 きょうか strengthening; intensifying
  • 強気 つよき confident; assured
  • 強硬 きょうこう firm; strong

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
57
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#112 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+05F37