Meaning & readings

husband, man

On’yomi フ、フウ、ブ
Kun’yomi おっと、それ
Nanori お、と、ゆう、よ

Origin

This character most likely depicts a man or adult male through a simple picture. The basic strokes form a human figure, with the horizontal line at the top representing the head or upper body and the vertical elements below suggesting the torso and stance. Over time, this straightforward pictorial representation became the standard way to write the word for "husband" or "man" in Japanese and Chinese. The character's simplicity and direct visual origin helped it remain recognizable even as writing systems evolved.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

4 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (夫).

  • meaning part

Common words

  • 工夫 くふう devising (a way); contriving
  • 夫妻 ふさい husband and wife; married couple
  • 夫人 ふじん wife; Mrs
  • 丈夫 じょうぶ healthy; robust
  • 夫婦 ふうふ married couple; husband and wife
  • 亡夫 ぼうふ deceased husband; late husband
  • 大丈夫 だいじょうぶ safe; secure
  • 義太夫 ぎだゆう gidayū (type of reciting used in the puppet theater)

Reference

Strokes
4
Kangxi radical
37
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#335 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+0592B