字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

packed, close, pressed, reprove, rebuke, blame

On’yomi キツ、キチ
Kun’yomi つ.める、つ.め、-づ.め、つ.まる、つ.む
Nanori ずめ、づめ

Origin

The character combines the word radical 言, which indicates this is about speaking or communication, with 吉 on the right, which serves as a sound hint for pronunciation. The core meaning developed from the idea of speaking in a compressed, forceful way—like words packed tightly together or delivered with pressure. When you pack words together tightly and deliver them forcefully, you are rebuking or blaming someone, which is how the character came to mean "reprove" and "rebuke." The same sense of compression and pressing together also led to the related meanings of "packed," "close," and "pressed."

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

詰 13 strokes

Components

  • 言 radical left
  • 吉 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

  • 缶詰 かんづめ canned food; tinned food
  • 詰む つむ to become fine (of fabric)
  • 詰問 きつもん cross-examination; close questioning
  • 詰まる つまる to be packed (with); to be filled
  • 詰める つめる to stuff into; to jam
  • 瓶詰め びんづめ bottling
  • 詰まり つまり that is to say; that is
  • 字詰め じづめ number of characters per line, page, etc.

Related kanji

Same sound component 吉
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
149
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1020 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08A70