字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

printing block, printing plate, edition, impression, label

On’yomi ハン

Origin

The character 版 combines two parts: the left component 片, which means a flat piece or slab, provides the core meaning. The right component 反 serves as a sound hint, roughly indicating how the character should be pronounced. Together, these parts represent a flat wooden or metal slab used in printing—the physical object that holds an image and gets inked to make prints. This practical image of a printing block eventually extended to mean printed editions and impressions more generally.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

版 8 strokes

Components

  • 片 radical left
  • 反 sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 出版 しゅっぱん publication
  • 初版 しょはん first edition
  • 図版 ずはん plate; illustration
  • 凸版 とっぱん letterpress; relief printing
  • 版画 はんが woodcut; woodblock print
  • 版権 はんけん copyright; publishing rights
  • 改訂版 かいていばん revised edition
  • 出版物 しゅっぱんぶつ publication

Related kanji

Same sound component 反
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
8
Kangxi radical
91
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#802 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+07248