Meaning & readings
extent, degree, law, formula, distance, limits, amount
On’yomi テイ
Kun’yomi ほど、-ほど
Nanori ほと
Origin
The left component 禾 (grain/rice plant) establishes the meaning category — this character originally referred to measuring grain or crops in the field. The right component 呈 is a sound hint that tells you roughly how to pronounce the character, not what it means. Over time, the idea of "measuring grain" expanded to mean "extent" or "degree" more generally, and then further to "law" or "formula" — rules that set limits and boundaries. The character carries all these related senses of limitation, measurement, and regulation.
Components
- 禾
- 呈
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 12
- Kangxi radical
- 115
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #514 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+07A0B