字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

defense, protection

On’yomi エイ、エ
Nanori もり、い、まもる

Origin

This character uses a frame made of the radical 行, which relates to movement and paths. Inside sits 韋, a component that sounds similar to the character's pronunciation and has no connection to the meaning. The 行 radicals wrapping around suggest enclosure or protection, like guards positioned around something to defend it. Over time, this visual idea of protective positioning combined with the sound hint 韋 to create a character meaning defense or protection.

衛 16 strokes

Components

  • 行 radical enclosure
  • 韋 sound hint
  • 行 radical enclosure

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

Common words

  • 衛星 えいせい (natural) satellite; moon
  • 衛生 えいせい hygiene; sanitation
  • 護衛 ごえい guard; convoy
  • 自衛 じえい self-defense; self-defence
  • 守衛 しゅえい (security) guard; caretaker
  • 親衛 しんえい monarch's guards
  • 前衛 ぜんえい advance guard; vanguard
  • 防衛 ぼうえい defense; defence

Related kanji

Same sound component 韋
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
16
Kangxi radical
144
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#400 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+0885B