Meaning & readings
going, journey, carry out, conduct, act, line, row, bank
On’yomi コウ、ギョウ、アン
Kun’yomi い.く、ゆ.く、-ゆ.き、-ゆき、-い.き、-いき、おこな.う、おこ.なう
Nanori いく、なみ、なめ、みち、ゆき、ゆく
Origin
The character 行 most likely depicts a crossroads or intersection where two paths meet. In ancient Chinese writing, this simple picture of crossing lines came to represent the idea of movement and passage through space. From that basic sense of "going" or "traveling," the meaning expanded to include related concepts like conducting an action, carrying something out, or proceeding along a line — all derived from the physical act of traversing a path.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.
Components
This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (行).
Common words
- 移行 いこう transition; changeover
- 運行 うんこう operation (of a bus or train service); service
- 横行 おうこう being rampant; being widespread
- 刊行 かんこう publication; issue
- 慣行 かんこう customary practice; habit
- 敢行 かんこう decisive action; going through with
- 紀行 きこう traveller's journal; traveler's journal
- 急行 きゅうこう hurrying (to somewhere); rushing
Reference
- Strokes
- 6
- Kangxi radical
- 144
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #20 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 4
- Unicode
- U+0884C