Meaning & readings
doubt, distrust, be suspicious, question
On’yomi ギ
Kun’yomi うたが.う
Origin
The character 疑 combines two components to express doubt and suspicion. The left part 匕 suggests something related to the body or a person's state, while 矢 means "arrow." The image behind this is of an arrow aimed at you — when an arrow is pointed in your direction, you naturally become uncertain and suspicious, questioning whether it will hit. Over time, this visual idea of being targeted by uncertainty transformed into the broader meaning of doubt and distrust that the character carries today.
Components
- 匕
- 矢
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 14
- Kangxi radical
- 103
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #283 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+07591