Meaning & readings
yellow
On’yomi コウ、オウ
Kun’yomi き、こ-
Nanori うい、れい
Origin
This character appears to combine multiple elements to represent the color yellow. The middle component 由 suggests a contained or enclosed space, while the top and bottom pieces frame it — the strokes above and below create a sense of something complete and bounded. In ancient Chinese art and writing, yellow was associated with earth, the center, and natural pigments that came from minerals and soil. By stacking these components vertically, the character builds up a unified image of the yellow pigment or hue itself, much like how the color appears as a solid, defined thing in nature.
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 11
- Kangxi radical
- 201
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #1240 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+09EC4