Meaning & readings

sake

On’yomi チュウ、チュ
Kun’yomi かも.す

Origin

This character combines two visual ideas to represent a type of sake. The left part, 酉, is the radical for alcohol and fermented drinks—it originally depicted a wine vessel or jar. The right part, , represents a measure or a small, precise amount. Together they suggest the careful measurement and fermentation process involved in making distilled sake, particularly the kind called shochu. The combination captures both what the substance is (an alcoholic drink) and how it's made (through controlled, measured fermentation).

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

10 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • meaning part right

Common words

  • 焼酎 しょうちゅう shōchū; Japanese spirit distilled from sweet potatoes, rice, etc.
  • 酎ハイ ちゅうハイ chūhai; shōchū highball

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
164
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
Former JLPT
Unicode
U+0914E