Meaning & readings

escape, flee, shirk, evade, set free

On’yomi トウ
Kun’yomi に.げる、に.がす、のが.す、のが.れる

Origin

The character combines the "movement" radical on the left (the classifying component that groups it with other action words) with the sound component on the right, which hints at the pronunciation. The left radical signals that this kanji describes an action of moving away or going somewhere, while the sound component provides a phonetic clue to how the word was pronounced in Chinese. Together they build a character meaning to run away or escape — the idea of swift movement away from a place or situation.

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

9 strokes

Components

  • sound hint nyoc
  • radical bottom-left wrap

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

Common words

  • 逃す のがす to miss (e.g. a chance); to lose
  • 逃走 とうそう flight; desertion
  • 逃避 とうひ escape; evasion
  • 逃亡 とうぼう escape; flight
  • 逃げ にげ escape; getaway
  • 逃がす にがす to set free; to let go
  • 逃げる にげる to run away; to flee
  • 逃れる のがれる to escape

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
162
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#931 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+09003