Meaning & readings
darning, repair, mend, trim, tidy up, adjust
On’yomi ゼン
Kun’yomi つくろ.う
Origin
This character combines the thread radical on the left, which marks it as relating to textiles and needlework, with the sound component on the right that hints at its pronunciation. The thread radical makes sense for the core meaning because mending and darning are done by sewing with thread. Over time, the meaning expanded from the specific act of repairing cloth to the broader sense of fixing, tidying, or adjusting things in general. The right side gives you a clue to how to say the word aloud rather than contributing to its meaning.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 18
- Kangxi radical
- 120
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #2195 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+07E55