Meaning & readings

ease, peace

On’yomi コウ
Nanori かん、こ、みち、やす、やすし

Origin

This character combines a shelter or roof shape on the left with a component on the right that hints at its pronunciation. The roof element suggests something protective or structural, which connects to ideas of safety and security. The right component sounds similar to how the character is pronounced in Chinese (コウ), serving as a sound guide rather than adding to the meaning. Together, the sheltering roof and the sound hint create a character that represents the comfort and peace found under a safe roof — the ease and contentment of being protected.

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

11 strokes

Components

  • 广 radical top-left wrap
  • sound hint tarec

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

Common words

  • 健康 けんこう health
  • 小康 しょうこう lull; breathing spell
  • 健康的 けんこうてき hygienic; healthy
  • 不健康 ふけんこう poor health; ill health
  • 健康診断 けんこうしんだん health checkup; (general) medical examination
  • 健康保険 けんこうほけん health insurance
  • 健康食品 けんこうしょくひん health foods
  • 国民健康保険 こくみんけんこうほけん national health insurance

Reference

Strokes
11
Kangxi radical
53
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#760 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+05EB7