字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

rouse, wake up, get up

On’yomi キ
Kun’yomi お.きる、お.こる、お.こす、おこ.す、た.つ

Origin

The character 起 combines the radical 走, which relates to movement and action, with 己 as a sound hint that suggests its pronunciation. The radical 走 (meaning "run") captures the sense of dynamic physical action — getting up or rousing requires movement and activation. By pairing this meaningful element with 己 to guide how the character should be pronounced, the form 起 came to represent the action of rising, waking, or stirring into motion. The visual emphasis on movement makes the connection between shape and meaning quite natural.

起 10 strokes

Components

  • 走 radical bottom-left wrap
  • 己 sound hint position.nyoc

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

Common words

  • 縁起 えんぎ omen; sign of luck
  • 喚起 かんき arousal; excitation
  • 起因 きいん to be caused by; to result from
  • 起工 きこう setting to work
  • 起債 きさい issuing of bonds
  • 起床 きしょう rising (from one's bed); getting up
  • 起訴 きそ prosecution; indictment
  • 起草 きそう drafting (e.g. a bill); drawing up

Related kanji

Same sound component 己
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
156
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#374 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+08D77