Meaning & readings
design, pattern, build, nature, character, handle, crank, grip, knob, shaft
On’yomi ヘイ
Kun’yomi がら、え、つか
Nanori から、ら
Origin
The character combines the tree radical on the left, which points to the meaning of wooden objects, with a sound component on the right that hints at the pronunciation. Originally this character likely referred to the handle of a wooden tool or weapon, since a handle is a wooden part you grasp. Over time the meaning broadened to include the pattern or design on things like fabric, and more abstractly to a person's nature or character, as in "what someone is made of." The wooden handle sense remains in the core idea of a physical grip or hold.
Common words
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 75
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1140 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+067C4