字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

Dr., command, esteem, win acclaim, Ph.D., exposition, fair

On’yomi ハク、バク
Nanori ぐれ、と、はか、ひろ

Origin

The character 博 combines a "ten" radical (十) on the left with a sound component (尃) on the right that hints at the pronunciation "haku." The left side originally suggested comprehensiveness or breadth, while the sound component anchors the reading. Over time, the meaning shifted to convey the idea of something broad and extensive—like broad knowledge or a broad command of a subject—which eventually came to mean "doctor" or someone who has won acclaim through deep expertise. The sense of "exposition" follows naturally from the breadth of knowledge being displayed.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

博 12 strokes

Components

  • 十 radical left
  • 尃 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

  • 博愛 はくあい charity; benevolence
  • 博学 はくがく erudition; extensive learning
  • 博士 はかせ expert; learned person
  • 博物 はくぶつ natural history
  • 博多 はかた Hakata (old but still commonly used name for Fukuoka)
  • 博物館 はくぶつかん museum
  • 博覧会 はくらんかい exhibition; exposition
  • 国立博物館 こくりつはくぶつかん national museum

Related kanji

Same sound component 尃
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
12
Kangxi radical
24
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#794 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+0535A