字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

penal, chastise, punish, discipline

On’yomi チョウ
Kun’yomi こ.りる、こ.らす、こ.らしめる

Origin

The character 懲 combines a sound hint with a meaning classifier. The top component 徴 tells you roughly how to pronounce the character (roughly "chō"). The bottom component 心 means "heart" or "mind" and acts as a classifier showing this character relates to mental or emotional responses. Together, the shape represents the idea of a punishment or discipline that leaves an impression on the mind or heart — something that sticks with you and makes you think twice before repeating the mistake. The combination of "mind" with the sound component 徴 built up this sense of chastisement over time.

懲 18 strokes

Components

  • 徴 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

  • 懲戒 ちょうかい discipline; punishment
  • 懲罰 ちょうばつ discipline; punishment
  • 懲役 ちょうえき penal servitude; imprisonment with hard labor (hard labour)
  • 懲りる こりる to learn by experience; to learn one's lesson
  • 勧善懲悪 かんぜんちょうあく rewarding good and punishing evil; poetic justice

Related kanji

Same sound component 徴
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
18
Kangxi radical
61
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1303 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+061F2