Meaning & readings
unravel, notes, key, explanation, understanding, untie, undo, solve, answer, cancel, absolve, explain, minute
Origin
This character appears to show a cow or ox (the left component) next to a person's hand or arm (the right component), representing the act of untying or loosening an animal. The image of undoing a knot or releasing something tied — whether an animal's bonds or a tangled problem — naturally led to meanings like "untie," "unravel," and "solve." Over time, the meaning expanded from the physical act of loosening something to the more abstract sense of understanding or explaining something, since both involve making something unclear become clear. The character's visual origin in this practical, concrete action shaped how Japanese speakers understood the broader concept of解.
AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.
Components
This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (解).
Common words
- 解く とく to untie; to unfasten
- 解禁 かいきん lifting a ban; raising an embargo
- 解決 かいけつ settlement; solution
- 解雇 かいこ dismissal (of an employee); discharge
- 解散 かいさん breaking up (a meeting, gathering, etc.); dispersal (e.g. of a crowd)
- 解釈 かいしゃく interpretation; explanation
- 解除 かいじょ termination (of a contract); cancellation
- 解消 かいしょう cancellation; liquidation
Reference
- Strokes
- 13
- Kangxi radical
- 148
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #176 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+089E3