Meaning & readings
class, rank, grade
On’yomi キュウ
Nanori しな
Origin
The character 級 combines a thread or string radical (糸) on the left with 及 on the right, which serves as a sound hint for pronunciation. The thread radical suggests something woven or connected in sequence, which fits well with the meaning of rank or grade—think of ranks as steps or levels connected in order, like threads in a weave. The right component 及 doesn't contribute to the meaning but tells you roughly how to pronounce the character. Over time, this combination came to represent the idea of classification or grading within a structured system.
Common words
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 120
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #785 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+07D1A