Meaning & readings

every

On’yomi マイ
Kun’yomi ごと、-ごと.に
Nanori つね

Origin

This character combines a component meaning "mother" (the bottom part) with a smaller element on top. The idea is that a mother gives birth repeatedly, one child after another—suggesting something that happens over and over. From this sense of repetition came the meaning "every" or "each time." The character essentially pictures the cyclical, recurring nature of motherhood to express the concept of something happening regularly without exception.

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

6 strokes

Components

  • 𠂉 meaning part top
  • radical bottom

Common words

  • 毎に ごとに one by one; each
  • 毎回 まいかい every time; each round
  • 毎時 まいじ every hour; hourly
  • 毎週 まいしゅう every week
  • 毎朝 まいあさ every morning
  • 毎度 まいど each time; every time
  • 毎日 まいにち every day; daily
  • 毎晩 まいばん every night

Reference

Strokes
6
Kangxi radical
80
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#436 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 4
Unicode
U+06BCE