字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

mould, type, model

On’yomi ケイ
Kun’yomi かた、-がた

Origin

This character combines two parts to express the idea of a mould or form. The bottom component is soil or earth, which suggests something solid and shapeable. The top component serves as a sound hint, telling you roughly how to pronounce the character, rather than contributing to its meaning. Together, the character evolved to mean a template or mould—something like a shaped container of earth or material that gives things their form.

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

型 9 strokes

Components

  • 刑 sound hint top
  • 土 radical bottom

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 原型 げんけい model; prototype
  • 新型 しんがた new type; new style
  • 体型 たいけい figure; body shape
  • 大型 おおがた large; large-sized
  • 中型 ちゅうがた medium size
  • 鋳型 いがた mold; mould
  • 典型 てんけい type; pattern
  • 模型 もけい model; dummy

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
32
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#482 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+0578B