Meaning & readings
open, unfold, unseal
On’yomi カイ
Kun’yomi ひら.く、ひら.き、-びら.き、ひら.ける、あ.く、あ.ける
Nanori はる、か、ひらき
Origin
The character 開 combines two visual ideas to express "open." The left part, 門, depicts a gate or door — something that can be opened or closed. The right part, 开, shows something being split or separated. Together, these convey the action of opening a gate or door by pulling its two sides apart. Over time, the meaning expanded from the literal act of opening a door to the broader sense of unfolding or unsealing anything.
Components
- 門
- 开
Common words
- 開く ひらく to open; to undo
- 開演 かいえん curtain raising; starting (e.g. play, concert)
- 開花 かいか flowering; blooming
- 開会 かいかい opening of a meeting
- 開館 かいかん opening (for that day's business; of a library, museum, cinema, etc.)
- 開業 かいぎょう opening a business; opening a practice
- 開局 かいきょく opening (of a broadcasting station, post office, bureau, etc.); establishment
- 開口 かいこう opening; aperture (e.g. camera)
Reference
- Strokes
- 12
- Kangxi radical
- 169
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #59 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+0958B