Meaning & readings
move, motion, change, confusion, shift, shake
On’yomi ドウ
Kun’yomi うご.く、うご.かす
Nanori るぎ
Origin
The character 動 combines two parts: the left side 重 serves as a sound hint suggesting the character's pronunciation, while the right side 力 means "strength" or "force" and classifies the character as relating to physical power or exertion. The idea is that force or power in action equals movement or motion. Over time, the meaning expanded to cover any kind of change, shifting, or shaking—basically any situation where something or someone isn't staying still.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).
Common words
- 異動 いどう (personnel) change; transfer
- 移動 いどう movement; transfer
- 運動 うんどう exercise; physical training
- 活動 かつどう activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action
- 感動 かんどう being deeply moved emotionally; excitement
- 機動 きどう maneuver (usu. of military force); manoeuvre
- 起動 きどう startup; booting up
- 駆動 くどう drive; driving (force)
Reference
- Strokes
- 11
- Kangxi radical
- 19
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #73 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+052D5