字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

loins, hips, waist, low wainscoting

On’yomi ヨウ
Kun’yomi こし
Nanori うすぐ

Origin

The character 腰 combines the flesh radical 月 on the left, which identifies this as a word about the body, with the component 要 on the right that serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation. The 要 component suggests how to say the character but doesn't contribute its own meaning. Together, the flesh classifier and the sound hint create a character meaning the part of the body around the waist and hips, where the torso narrows—the loins.

腰 13 strokes

Components

  • 月 radical left
  • 要 sound hint right

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

Common words

  • 腰痛 ようつう lower back pain; lumbago
  • 腰部 ようぶ loins; hips
  • 弱腰 よわごし weak attitude
  • 足腰 あしこし legs and loins; lower body
  • 物腰 ものごし manner; demeanour
  • 本腰 ほんごし strenuous effort; earnestness
  • 腰掛け こしかけ seat; bench
  • 腰掛ける こしかける to sit (down)

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
130
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1306 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08170