字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

drive, run, gallop, advance, inspire, impel

On’yomi ク
Kun’yomi か.ける、か.る

Origin

This character is built from the horse radical on the left, which immediately signals that the character has to do with horses and their actions. On the right is a component that serves as a sound hint, roughly suggesting how the character should be pronounced—it doesn't add meaning here, just a pronunciation guide. Together, the horse plus this sound element created a character for the vigorous, driving actions a horse performs: galloping, running, and pushing forward. Over time, the meanings extended beyond just horses to include the general sense of driving, impelling, or inspiring someone to action.

駆 14 strokes

Components

  • 馬 radical left
  • 区 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

  • 駆る かる to spur on; to urge forward
  • 駆使 くし using freely; making full use of
  • 駆除 くじょ extermination (of pests); eradication
  • 駆逐 くちく expulsion; driving out
  • 駆動 くどう drive; driving (force)
  • 先駆 せんく forerunner; precursor
  • 駆ける かける to run; to dash
  • 駆け足 かけあし running fast; double time

Related kanji

Same sound component 区
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
187
Formation type
Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#1033 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+099C6