字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

pierce, 8 1/3lbs, penetrate, brace

On’yomi カン
Kun’yomi つらぬ.く、ぬ.く、ぬき
Nanori つら、ぬく

Origin

The character 貫 combines "mother" or a container symbol (毋) on top with "shell" or "treasure" (貝) below. The top component suggests something holding or enclosing, while the bottom represents valuable goods. Together, these parts evoke the idea of threading or stringing precious items together — like shells or beads on a cord passing through them. This sense of something continuous passing through or piercing led to the meaning "penetrate" or "pierce." Over time, it also came to mean a unit of weight used for stringing coins, which eventually became a standard measure of about 8 1/3 pounds.

貫 11 strokes

Components

  • 毋 radical top
  • 貝 radical bottom

Common words

  • 一貫 いっかん consistency; coherence
  • 貫く つらぬく to go through; to pierce
  • 貫通 かんつう passing through (of a tunnel, bullet, etc.); going (right) through
  • 貫徹 かんてつ accomplishment; realization
  • 突貫 とっかん charging (at the enemy) with a shout; rush
  • 貫き通す つらぬきとおす to go through; to pierce

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
154
Formation type
Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1156 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+08CAB