Meaning & readings
short, brevity, fault, defect, weak point
On’yomi タン
Kun’yomi みじか.い
Origin
This character combines an arrow (矢) on the left with a bean or small object (豆) on the right. The arrow represents something straight and direct, while the bean represents something small. Together, they create the idea of something that is small or limited in length—like an arrow that has been cut short. Over time, this visual combination of "small" and "direct/pointed" came to mean short or brief, and by extension, any kind of defect or weakness.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 12
- Kangxi radical
- 111
- Grade
- Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #689 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+077ED