Meaning & readings
buy
On’yomi バイ
Kun’yomi か.う
Origin
The character combines the idea of a net or cage (the top part) with a shell or precious item (the bottom part). In ancient times, shells were valuable goods used in trade and commerce, so a shell naturally came to represent treasures or things of worth. When you use a net to catch or trap something precious, the image suggests the act of acquiring or obtaining it—which is what buying is. Over time, the meaning shifted to the general concept of purchase and exchange.
Components
- 罒
- 貝
Common words
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 12
- Kangxi radical
- 154
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #520 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 4
- Unicode
- U+08CB7