Meaning & readings
salute, bow, ceremony, thanks, remuneration
On’yomi レイ、ライ
Nanori あや、なり、のり、ひろし、れ
Origin
The left component 礻 is a simplified form of 示, which originally depicted an altar or sacred object and signals that this character relates to rituals and religion. The right component 乙 serves as a sound hint, suggesting how the character should be pronounced. Together, these parts create a character meaning ceremony, ritual, or formal gesture — the visual reference to sacred matters combined with the phonetic guide captures the idea of formal conduct and reverence that 礼 represents, including the bowing and thanks that accompany such occasions.
Components
- 礻
- 乙
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 5
- Kangxi radical
- 113
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #1185 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+0793C