Meaning & readings
cleverness, agile, alert
On’yomi ビン
Kun’yomi さとい
Nanori さとし、ちょう、とし、び
Origin
This character combines the idea of repetition with the concept of action. The left component 毎 originally meant "every" or "each time," suggesting something that happens repeatedly. The right component 攵 is a classifier for actions and movements, like striking or doing something. Together, these parts suggest quick, repeated actions—the kind of nimble, rapid movements that come from a sharp, alert mind. Over time, this visual idea of swift, repeated motion came to represent the broader meaning of cleverness and alertness.
Components
- 毎
- 攵
Common words
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 10
- Kangxi radical
- 66
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1042 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+0654F