Meaning & readings

fan, folding fan

On’yomi セン
Kun’yomi おうぎ
Nanori おう、おおぎ

Origin

This character combines two meaningful parts. The left side shows , a door or barrier, while the right side shows , which means feathers or wings. Together they depict the idea of feathers arranged like a door that opens and closes—essentially a folding fan made from feathers or feather-like material. The image of layered feathers that can open and shut naturally suggests the object of a fan, which similarly folds and unfolds to create air movement.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

10 strokes

Components

  • radical top-left wrap
  • meaning part tarec

Common words

  • 扇子 せんす folding fan
  • 扇動 せんどう incitement; sedition
  • 団扇 うちわ uchiwa; type of traditional Japanese handheld fan
  • 扇形 おうぎがた fan shape
  • 扇ぐ あおぐ to fan
  • 換気扇 かんきせん ventilation fan; extractor fan
  • 扇風機 せんぷうき electric fan

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
63
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1805 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+06247