Meaning & readings
government ministry, conserve, omit
Origin
This character combines "little" (少) with "eye" (目) to suggest the idea of looking carefully at small details. When you examine something closely and thoroughly, you naturally notice what's unnecessary or wasteful, which led to the meanings "conserve" and "omit." Over time, the character also came to represent a government ministry—a place where careful oversight and management happen. The "eye" component serves as a classifier suggesting observation or examination, while "little" indicates the focused, detailed nature of that looking.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Common words
- 帰省 きせい homecoming; returning home
- 三省 さんせい frequent reflection; frequent meditation
- 自省 じせい self-examination; reflection
- 省く はぶく to omit; to leave out
- 省庁 しょうちょう ministries and government offices; the authorities
- 省略 しょうりゃく omission; leaving out
- 省令 しょうれい ministerial ordinance
- 同省 どうしょう the said ministry; the same ministry
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 109
- Grade
- Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #548 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+07701