字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

attitude, condition, figure, appearance, voice (of verbs)

On’yomi タイ
Kun’yomi わざ.と

Origin

This character combines a sound hint with a meaning classifier. The top component 能 tells you roughly how to pronounce the character — it sounds something like "tai." The bottom component 心, meaning "heart" or "mind," acts as a semantic classifier that anchors the whole character to the domain of attitudes and states of being. Together, they create a character that captures the idea of how someone's mind or feelings appear outwardly — their attitude, condition, or manner. The layering of these elements reflects the Japanese concept that what we see on the outside is connected to what's happening in the heart or mind.

態 14 strokes

Components

  • 能 sound hint top
  • 心 radical bottom

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

Common words

  • 旧態 きゅうたい old state of affairs
  • 形態 けいたい form; shape
  • 実態 じったい true state; actual condition
  • 醜態 しゅうたい disgraceful behavior; disgraceful behaviour
  • 状態 じょうたい state; condition
  • 生態 せいたい ecology; life and habits (of an animal)
  • 態勢 たいせい attitude; posture
  • 態度 たいど attitude; manner

Related kanji

Same sound component 能
Same radical

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
61
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#353 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+0614B