Meaning & readings

dog

On’yomi ケン
Kun’yomi いぬ、いぬ-

Origin

This character is a picture of a dog. The main component looks like a simplified side view of a four-legged animal with its head, body, and legs, while the small dot marks a specific feature. Over time, the strokes were simplified and stylized until they became the modern character we see today. The shape still suggests the basic form of a dog's body in profile.

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

4 strokes

Components

  • meaning part
  • meaning part

Common words

  • 愛犬 あいけん pet dog; beloved dog
  • 番犬 ばんけん watchdog; guard dog
  • 野犬 やけん stray dog; ownerless dog
  • 猟犬 りょうけん hound; hunting dog
  • 子犬 こいぬ puppy
  • 負け犬 まけいぬ loser; failure
  • 盲導犬 もうどうけん guide dog; seeing-eye dog
  • 飼い犬 かいいぬ pet dog

Reference

Strokes
4
Kangxi radical
94
Grade
Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#1326 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+072AC