Meaning & readings
turn, number in a series
On’yomi バン
Kun’yomi つが.い
Nanori は、ま
Origin
The character 番 combines two elements to show the idea of ordering or taking turns. The top part 釆 suggests dividing or sorting things, while the bottom part 田 represents a field or bounded space. Together, these components evoke the sense of things arranged in sequence or slots—like dividing a field into sections where each person or item takes their proper place in turn. This visual idea of systematic arrangement naturally led to meanings like "turn," "number in a series," and "order."
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Components
- 釆
- 田
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 12
- Kangxi radical
- 102
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #348 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+0756A