字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

boom, prosper, copulate

On’yomi セイ、ジョウ
Kun’yomi も.る、さか.る、さか.ん
Nanori もり

Origin

The character 盛 combines a container or plate (皿, the bottom part) with a sound hint (成, top). The visual idea is a dish or vessel filled to abundance — overflowing or piled high with food or goods. This image of a full, brimming container naturally came to mean "thriving," "prosperous," or "at one's peak," since abundance suggests flourishing. The top component gives you a clue to the pronunciation but does not contribute to the meaning itself.

盛 11 strokes

Components

  • 成 sound hint top
  • 皿 radical bottom

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

Common words

  • 旺盛 おうせい lively; vigorous
  • 盛り さかり height (e.g. of summer); peak (e.g. of cherry blossom season)
  • 盛る もる to serve (in a bowl, on a plate, etc.); to dish out
  • 盛ん さかん prosperous; flourishing
  • 盛況 せいきょう success; boom
  • 盛衰 せいすい rise and fall; ups and downs
  • 盛大 せいだい grand; magnificent
  • 全盛 ぜんせい height of prosperity

Related kanji

Same sound component 成
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
108
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#712 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+076DB