Meaning & readings

gate, counter for cannons

On’yomi モン
Kun’yomi かど、と
Nanori じょう、も、ゆき

Origin

This character is a simple picture of a gate or doorway. The two vertical strokes on the sides represent the pillars or posts of a gate, while the horizontal strokes across the middle and top represent the crossbeams and frame that hold the structure together. The enclosed space in the middle shows the opening where you pass through. Over time, this straightforward drawing of a gate's basic shape became the standard written form, and the character naturally came to mean "gate" or "doorway" in general.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

8 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (門).

Common words

  • 一門 いちもん family; clan
  • 関門 かんもん barrier; checkpoint
  • 校門 こうもん school gate
  • 宗門 しゅうもん (religious) denomination; sect
  • 正門 せいもん main gate; main entrance
  • 専門 せんもん speciality; specialty
  • 入門 にゅうもん becoming a pupil (of); becoming a disciple
  • 部門 ぶもん division (of a larger group); branch

Reference

Strokes
8
Kangxi radical
169
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#452 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+09580