Meaning & readings
bear
On’yomi ユウ
Kun’yomi くま
Origin
This character combines the idea of a powerful animal with fire or heat. The top part suggests capability or skill—something that possesses strength and force. The bottom part is a fire radical, which in this context likely indicates a wild or fierce creature, as fire often represents danger or untamed nature in character formation. Together, these components evoke the image of a strong, dangerous animal: a bear. The character essentially builds the concept of "bear" by combining the notion of a powerful, fierce being.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Components
- 能
- 灬
Common words
- 白熊 しろくま polar bear (Ursus maritimus)
Reference
- Strokes
- 14
- Kangxi radical
- 86
- Grade
- Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #1105 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+0718A