Meaning & readings
assurance, firm, tight, hard, solid, confirm, clear, evident
On’yomi カク、コウ
Kun’yomi たし.か、たし.かめる
Origin
The character 確 combines the stone radical on the left, which points to something hard and solid, with a sound component on the right that suggests how to pronounce it. The stone element is fitting because the kanji's meanings relate to firmness and solidity—things as hard and unchanging as stone. Over time, the character developed the sense of being certain or confirmed, as if something solid and firm enough to stand on without doubt. This shift from physical hardness to certainty and assurance is common in how Japanese characters evolved their meanings.
Components
- 石
- 寉
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 15
- Kangxi radical
- 112
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #252 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+078BA