字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

crime, sin, offense

On’yomi ハン、ボン
Kun’yomi おか.す

Origin

The character combines a dog or animal radical on the left, which suggests something wild or uncontrolled, with a sound component on the right that hints at the pronunciation. The idea is that crime or wrongdoing is like an unruly, dangerous act — something that breaks rules the way an untamed animal might. The sound component doesn't add meaning but tells you roughly how to say the word.

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

犯 5 strokes

Components

  • ⺨ radical left
  • 㔾 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

  • 共犯 きょうはん complicity
  • 主犯 しゅはん principal offence; principal offense
  • 侵犯 しんぱん violation (of foreign territory, rights, etc.); invasion
  • 戦犯 せんぱん war criminal
  • 犯す おかす to commit (e.g. crime); to perpetrate
  • 犯行 はんこう crime; criminal act
  • 犯罪 はんざい crime; offence
  • 犯人 はんにん offender; criminal

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
94
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#874 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+072AF