Meaning & readings
exchange, spare, substitute, per-
Origin
This character combines the idea of change or switching. The left side contains components suggesting movement or action, while the right side includes elements that traditionally relate to taking turns or alternating. Together, they create the visual sense of one thing going out while another comes in—the core idea of exchange or substitution. Over time, the shape became standardized into the kanji we see today, with the meaning of "substitute" or "exchange" fully attached to it. The character's structure reflects how Japanese speakers visualized the concept of replacing one thing with another.
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 (替).
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 12
- Kangxi radical
- 73
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #979 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+066FF