Meaning & readings
four
On’yomi シ
Kun’yomi よ、よ.つ、よっ.つ、よん
Nanori あ、つ、よつ
Origin
This character most likely started as a picture of something divided into four parts. The box-like shape (囗) appears twice, suggesting a contained space, and the component in the middle helps divide it conceptually. Over time, the Chinese writing system developed a simple enclosed shape with internal markings to represent the number four—a way of showing a complete group split into four equal sections. The modern form keeps this basic enclosed structure, making it easy to recognize as a distinct character for the number four.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Components
- 囗
- 儿
- 囗
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 5
- Kangxi radical
- 31
- Grade
- Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #47 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 4
- Unicode
- U+056DB