Meaning & readings

walk, counter for steps

On’yomi ホ、ブ、フ
Kun’yomi ある.く、あゆ.む
Nanori あ、ゆき、ゆみ

Origin

This character combines two ideas to represent walking. The top component depicts a foot or footstep, which is the basic action. The bottom component means "small" or "few," suggesting the small, incremental movements of each step. Together, they create the image of moving forward through repeated small foot movements, which is what walking is. The character thus pictures the essence of locomotion as a sequence of individual steps.

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

8 strokes

Components

  • radical top
  • meaning part bottom

Common words

  • 一歩 いっぽ (a) step; one step
  • 競歩 きょうほ racewalking; race walking
  • 散歩 さんぽ walk; stroll
  • 初歩 しょほ basics; rudiments
  • 譲歩 じょうほ concession; conciliation
  • 進歩 しんぽ progress; advance
  • 徒歩 とほ walking; going on foot
  • 歩く あるく to walk

Reference

Strokes
8
Kangxi radical
77
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#554 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+06B69