字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

window, pane

On’yomi ソウ、ス
Kun’yomi まど、てんまど、けむだし

Origin

This character combines the radical for "hole" or "opening" at the top with a sound-hint component at the bottom. The hole radical makes sense because a window is an opening in a wall. The bottom component doesn't contribute meaning but instead gives you a rough clue to how the character sounds when spoken. Together, the stacked components create a picture of a hole in a structure through which light and air can pass — which is exactly what a window does.

窓 11 strokes

Components

  • 穴 radical top
  • 忩2 sound hint bottom

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 車窓 しゃそう train window; car window
  • 窓口 まどぐち counter; window
  • 窓際 まどぎわ at the window; by the window
  • 同窓 どうそう being a graduate of the same school; person who went to the same school
  • 同窓会 どうそうかい alumni association; graduates' association

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
116
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1186 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+07A93