字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

etc., and so forth, class (first), quality, equal, similar

On’yomi トウ
Kun’yomi ひと.しい、など、-ら
Nanori と、ひ

Origin

The character 等 combines bamboo (竹) with the sound-hint 寺 at the bottom. Bamboo was valued in ancient China and Japan for its straightness and uniformity, making it a natural symbol for things that are equal or of similar quality. The 寺 component doesn't contribute a meaning but tells you roughly how the character is pronounced. Together, the visual idea of uniform bamboo stalks paired with the sound hint created a character meaning "equal," "similar," or "of one class" — senses that later expanded to "etc." and similar phrases listing things of comparable type.

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

等 12 strokes

Components

  • 竹 radical top
  • 寺 sound hint bottom

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

Common words

  • 等閑 なおざり neglect; negligence
  • 一等 いっとう first class; first rank
  • 下等 かとう inferior; base
  • 均等 きんとう equal (distribution, treatment, level, etc.); even
  • 高等 こうとう high class; high grade
  • 上等 じょうとう superior; first-class
  • 対等 たいとう equality (esp. of status); equal footing
  • 中等 ちゅうとう second grade; medium quality

Related kanji

Same sound component 寺
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
12
Kangxi radical
118
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#798 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+07B49