Meaning & readings

eyebrow

On’yomi ビ、ミ
Kun’yomi まゆ

Origin

This character combines the radical for "eye" (目) with a stroke (丿) that represents hair or a line above it. The shape pictures an eyebrow as something that sits above and frames the eye, so the two components together create the visual idea of an eyebrow—the hair-like line positioned above the eye. Over time, the character became the standard way to write the word for eyebrow in Japanese and Chinese.

眉 9 strokes

Components

  • 丿 radical
  • 目 radical

Common words

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
109
Formation type
Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#2177 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+07709