Meaning & readings

blood

On’yomi ケツ
Kun’yomi

Origin

This character appears to be a simple picture of blood. The strokes form a shape that represents a drop or pool of blood, which is why the character came to mean blood itself. Over time, the pictographic drawing became more abstract and stylized into the modern form you see today, but it still carries the meaning of the original image.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

6 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (血).

Common words

  • 血圧 けつあつ blood pressure
  • 血液 けつえき blood
  • 血縁 けつえん blood relationship; consanguinity
  • 血管 けっかん blood vessel; vein
  • 血痕 けっこん bloodstain
  • 血糖 けっとう blood sugar
  • 献血 けんけつ blood donation
  • 混血 こんけつ mixed race; mixed parentage

Reference

Strokes
6
Kangxi radical
143
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#832 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08840