Meaning & readings

barley, wheat

On’yomi バク
Kun’yomi むぎ

Origin

This character pictures a grain plant, most likely wheat or barley. The top component suggests the head of grain with its clustered seeds, while the bottom component represents the stalk or root structure of the plant. Together, these two parts create a simple visual representation of the whole grain plant standing in a field, which is why the character came to mean barley and wheat.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

7 strokes

Components

  • meaning part top
  • meaning part bottom

Common words

  • 蕎麦 そば buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
  • 小麦 こむぎ wheat
  • 大麦 おおむぎ barley (Hordeum vulgare)
  • 麦芽 ばくが malt
  • 麦茶 むぎちゃ barley tea
  • 麦畑 むぎばたけ wheat field; barley field
  • 小麦粉 こむぎこ wheat flour
  • 蕎麦屋 そばや soba restaurant

Reference

Strokes
7
Kangxi radical
199
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1615 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+09EA6