Meaning & readings
penalty, punishment
On’yomi バツ、バチ、ハツ
Kun’yomi ばっ.する
Origin
This character combines a net or cage (the box shape on top) with a component suggesting entrapment or confinement below. The net imagery represents the idea of catching or trapping someone who has done wrong, while the lower element reinforces the sense of restraint and penalty. Together, these visual parts convey the concept of punishment—something that confines or restricts a wrongdoer, much as a net traps its catch. The character's structure thus mirrors the idea that a penalty binds or constrains the person being punished.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).
Components
- 罒
- 䚯
Common words
Reference
- Strokes
- 14
- Kangxi radical
- 122
- Grade
- Jōyō (secondary school)
- Frequency rank
- #1220 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 1
- Unicode
- U+07F70