Meaning & readings
correct, justice, righteous, 10**40
On’yomi セイ、ショウ
Kun’yomi ただ.しい、ただ.す、まさ、まさ.に
Nanori おお、くに、ま、まさし、ただし
Origin
The character 正 combines the horizontal line representing "one" or a straight baseline with 止, which pictures a foot or footstep. Together, they suggest something that goes straight and true—a foot that steps directly forward without veering left or right. This image of straightness and directness naturally came to mean "correct" or "proper," since correctness itself means following a true path without deviation. The notion of uprightness and righteousness grew from this same idea of something being fundamentally straight and in proper order.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 5
- Kangxi radical
- 77
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #143 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+06B63