Meaning & readings
army, force, troops, war, battle
On’yomi グン
Kun’yomi いくさ
Origin
This character combines the idea of a covered or enclosed space (the roof-like top component) with a cart or vehicle (the bottom component). In ancient times, armies traveled and fought using horse-drawn carts and chariots, which were crucial military tools. By putting these two ideas together—something enclosed or gathered, plus vehicles—the character came to represent the organized forces and equipment of an army. The covered top may suggest troops gathered under a roof or banner, while the cart below shows the transportation and mobility that defined military forces.
Components
- 冖
- 車
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 159
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #189 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+08ECD