Meaning & readings

clear

On’yomi リョウ
Kun’yomi あきらか

Origin

The character 瞭 combines the eye radical (目) with a component suggesting brightness or clarity (尞). Since seeing clearly depends on light and vision, pairing the eye with an element related to brightness creates a character meaning "clear" or "obvious." The left side anchors the meaning to visual perception, while the right side reinforces the sense of something being illuminated and easy to perceive. Together they express the idea of something being perfectly clear to see.

瞭 17 strokes

Components

  • 目 radical left
  • 尞 meaning part right

Common words

  • 明瞭 めいりょう clear; plain

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

Reference

Strokes
17
Kangxi radical
109
Formation type
Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
—
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+077AD