Meaning & readings

house, home, family, professional, expert, performer

On’yomi カ、ケ
Kun’yomi いえ、や、うち
Nanori あり、え、く、つか、べ

Origin

This character combines a roof symbol at the top with a pig at the bottom. In ancient China, a pig living under one's roof was a sign of wealth and a functioning household, since keeping pigs was a form of property and prosperity. Over time, the character came to mean "house" more broadly, and then extended to "family" and eventually "expert" or "professional" — someone established and settled, like a house. The visual image of shelter containing livestock captures the idea of a secure domestic space.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

10 strokes

Components

  • radical top
  • meaning part bottom

Common words

  • 家屋 かおく house; building
  • 家業 かぎょう family business; family trade
  • 家具 かぐ furniture
  • 家系 かけい family lineage
  • 家計 かけい household economy; family finances
  • 家元 いえもと head of a school (of music, dance); head family of a school
  • 家財 かざい household belongings; household goods
  • 家事 かじ housework; domestic chores

Reference

Strokes
10
Kangxi radical
40
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#133 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+05BB6