Meaning & readings

edge, origin, end, point, border, verge, cape

On’yomi タン
Kun’yomi はし、は、はた、-ばた、はな
Nanori ただし、みず

Origin

This character combines the radical , which means "stand" or represents something upright, with 耑 on the right side to hint at pronunciation. The left component suggests a fixed point or position, while the right side helps indicate how the character sounds. Together they convey the idea of a specific point or edge where something stands or ends—like the tip of something protruding or the boundary where one thing terminates and another begins. The notion of "edge" or "point" grew naturally from picturing something standing out distinctly from the rest.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

14 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 異端 いたん heresy; nonconformism
  • 一端 いったん one end; an end
  • 極端 きょくたん extreme; extremity
  • 先端 せんたん pointed end; tip
  • 川端 かわばた riverside; riverbank
  • 端緒 たんしょ start; beginning
  • 端的 たんてき frank; direct
  • 端末 たんまつ terminal; computer terminal

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
117
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#960 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+07AEF