字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

property, money, wealth, assets

On’yomi ザイ、サイ、ゾク
Kun’yomi たから

Origin

The character combines two parts: the 貝 component on the left originally depicted a cowrie shell, which was used as currency and a measure of wealth in ancient times, so it came to represent anything of value or treasure. The 才 component on the right serves as a sound hint, suggesting roughly how the character should be pronounced, rather than contributing a meaning. Together, this pairing — a treasure-related symbol plus a pronunciation guide — created a character meaning wealth, property, and assets.

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

財 10 strokes

Components

  • 貝 radical left
  • 才 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

  • 家財 かざい household belongings; household goods
  • 財界 ざいかい financial world; business circles
  • 財源 ざいげん source of funds; resources
  • 財産 ざいさん property; fortune
  • 財政 ざいせい public finance
  • 財団 ざいだん foundation (institution); syndicate
  • 財閥 ざいばつ zaibatsu; financial conglomerate
  • 財布 さいふ wallet; purse

Related kanji

Same sound component 才
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
154
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#494 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08CA1