Meaning & readings
craft, construction, katakana e radical (no. 48)
On’yomi コウ、ク、グ
Nanori もく
Origin
This character is a simple picture of a carpenter's square or construction tool, which is why it came to mean craft and construction work. The two horizontal lines represent the ruler or measuring device, while the vertical line is the perpendicular edge used to check right angles and straight lines. Because building and craftsmanship require precise measurements and tools, this tool-shaped character naturally became the word for construction and skilled work.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.
Components
This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (工).
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 3
- Kangxi radical
- 48
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #299 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+05DE5