Meaning & readings
limit, restrict, to best of ability
On’yomi ゲン
Kun’yomi かぎ.る、かぎ.り、-かぎ.り
Origin
This character combines the "boundary" or "dividing" radical on the left, which visually suggests a vertical line marking where one thing ends and another begins, with a sound component on the right that tells you roughly how to pronounce it. Together they create the idea of a point or line where something stops or is restricted—a limit. The sound component helps speakers and readers know this character is pronounced "gen" without adding to the meaning itself. The boundary radical carries all the semantic weight, evoking the notion of a marked edge or division that constrains what lies beyond it.
Components
- ⻖
- 艮
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 170
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #405 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+09650