Meaning & readings

ballot, label, ticket, sign

On’yomi ヒョウ

Origin

This character combines two elements to represent the idea of a public declaration or sign. The top component 覀 suggests something spread out or displayed, while the bottom component means "to show" or "altar"—a place where things are made visible to others. Together, they picture something shown or displayed openly, which naturally led to meanings like a ballot, ticket, or label—all items that announce or identify something publicly. The character's connection to voting and labeling comes from this core idea of making something known or official through a visible mark or token.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

11 strokes

Components

  • radical top
  • radical bottom

Common words

  • 一票 いっぴょう one vote; one ballot
  • 開票 かいひょう counting ballots; tally (of votes)
  • 伝票 でんぴょう chit; slip
  • 投票 とうひょう voting; ballot
  • 得票 とくひょう number of votes polled; poll votes
  • 票田 ひょうでん (reliable) source of votes; area of strong electoral support
  • 集票 しゅうひょう gathering votes; garnering votes
  • 住民票 じゅうみんひょう certificate of residence

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
113
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#489 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+07968