Meaning & readings
armor, high (voice), A grade, first class, former, instep, carapace
Origin
This character appears to represent armor by combining the idea of a protective covering with a structured form. The square component (日) suggests a boxlike or segmented structure, while the vertical line (丨) emphasizes the front-facing aspect. Together, these strokes create an image resembling the overlapping plates or sections of a suit of armor. Over time, the meaning expanded to include rankings and orderings, likely because armor grades were classified hierarchically—hence "A grade" or "first class." The character's versatility in Japanese comes from these extended meanings rather than changes to its visual form.
Components
- 日
- 丨
Common words
- 甲乙 こうおつ first and second; A and B
- 甲種 こうしゅ A-grade; first-class
- 甲斐 かい result (that makes an act worthwhile); worth (in doing something)
- 装甲 そうこう armoring; armouring
- 甲板 かんぱん deck (of a ship)
- 甲高い かんだかい high-pitched; shrill
- 甲状腺 こうじょうせん thyroid (gland)
- 甲子園 こうしえん Koshien Stadium (baseball park in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture)
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 5
- Kangxi radical
- 102
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1073 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+07532