Meaning & readings
ring, circle, loop
Origin
The character 環 combines 王 (king or jewel, used here as a classifier for precious objects) on the left with 睘 on the right, which is a sound hint indicating the pronunciation. The left component suggests this character refers to something valuable or ornamental, while the right component guides you toward the カン pronunciation. Together, these parts form a character meaning ring or circular loop — typically something made of precious metal or jade that forms a complete circle. The visual idea of a loop or cycle is carried by the meaning-bearing component, while the sound component anchors the Chinese-derived pronunciation.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).
Components
- 王
- 睘
A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.
Common words
- 一環 いっかん link (e.g. in a chain of events); part (of a plan, campaign, activities, etc.)
- 環境 かんきょう environment; surroundings
- 環礁 かんしょう atoll; circular coral reef
- 環状 かんじょう annulation; ring shape
- 循環 じゅんかん circulation; rotation
- 悪循環 あくじゅんかん vicious circle; vicious cycle
- 環境庁 かんきょうちょう Environment Agency
- 循環器 じゅんかんき circulatory organ
Reference
- Strokes
- 17
- Kangxi radical
- 96
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #409 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+074B0