字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

chronicle, account, narrative, history, annals, geologic period

On’yomi キ
Nanori おさむ、ただす、とし、とも、のり、もと

Origin

The character 紀 combines the silk thread radical on the left — which groups this character with other textiles and cord-related words — with the sound component 己 on the right, which hints at the pronunciation. The connection between thread and the meaning "chronicle" comes from an ancient practice: records and narratives were often written on or bound together with silk threads or cords, so the material became associated with written accounts and histories. Over time, the character came to represent the abstract idea of recording and preserving narratives across time.

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

紀 9 strokes

Components

  • 糸 radical left
  • 己 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

  • 紀元 きげん era
  • 紀行 きこう traveller's journal; traveler's journal
  • 綱紀 こうき law and order; (official) discipline
  • 世紀 せいき century
  • 風紀 ふうき public morals; discipline
  • 紀元前 きげんぜん pre-era; BC
  • 世紀末 せいきまつ end of a century (esp. 19th); fin-de-siècle
  • 二十世紀 にじっせいき twentieth century

Related kanji

Same sound component 己
Same radical

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
120
Grade
Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#780 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+07D00