字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

exclude, division (x/3), remove, abolish, cancel, except

On’yomi ジョ、ジ
Kun’yomi のぞ.く、-よ.け

Origin

The character 除 combines a radical on the left that relates to movement or going, with the sound component 余 on the right, which hints at the pronunciation. The left part suggests the action of stepping aside or moving out of the way, while 余 provides the phonetic clue. Together, these elements create a character meaning to remove, exclude, or set something apart — the idea of stepping away from or pushing something out of a place or category.

除 10 strokes

Components

  • ⻖ radical left
  • 余 sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 解除 かいじょ termination (of a contract); cancellation
  • 駆除 くじょ extermination (of pests); eradication
  • 控除 こうじょ subtraction; deduction (e.g. of tax)
  • 削除 さくじょ deletion; elimination
  • 除く のぞく to remove; to get rid of
  • 除外 じょがい exception; exclusion
  • 除去 じょきょ removal; getting rid of
  • 除籍 じょせき removing a name

Related kanji

Same sound component 余
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
170
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#594 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+09664