Meaning & readings
kettle, cauldron, iron pot
On’yomi フ
Kun’yomi かま
Origin
The character 釜 combines two elements to express the idea of a metal cooking vessel. The bottom part, 金, means metal or gold and indicates the material the object is made from. The top part, 父, functions here as a component suggesting the shape or function rather than its usual meaning of father—it helps distinguish this character from other metal-related characters. Together, these components create a character that literally represents "a metal pot," matching what a kettle or cauldron actually is: a metal container used for cooking and heating.
Reference
- Strokes
- 10
- Kangxi radical
- 167
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1761 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- —
- Unicode
- U+091DC