等 (Etc.) — Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

etc., and so forth, class (first), quality, equal, similar

On’yomi トウ

Kun’yomi ひと.しい、など、-ら

Nanori と、ひ

Origin

The character 等 combines bamboo (竹) with the sound-hint 寺 at the bottom. Bamboo was valued in ancient China and Japan for its straightness and uniformity, making it a natural symbol for things that are equal or of similar quality. The 寺 component doesn't contribute a meaning but tells you roughly how the character is pronounced. Together, the visual idea of uniform bamboo stalks paired with the sound hint created a character meaning "equal," "similar," or "of one class" — senses that later expanded to "etc." and similar phrases listing things of comparable type.

等 12 strokes

Components

竹 radical top
寺 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

等閑なおざり neglect; negligence
一等いっとう first class; first rank
下等かとう inferior; base
均等きんとう equal (distribution, treatment, level, etc.); even
高等こうとう high class; high grade
上等じょうとう superior; first-class
対等たいとう equality (esp. of status); equal footing
中等ちゅうとう second grade; medium quality

Easily confused with

These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.

符 token, sign

Reference

Strokes: 12
Kangxi radical: 118
Formation type: Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade: Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank: #798 (newspapers)
Former JLPT: level 2
Unicode: U+07B49