Meaning & readings

tracks, mark, print, impression

On’yomi セキ
Kun’yomi あと

Origin

The left part means foot or legs, the root idea of physical movement and walking. The right part 亦 functions as a sound hint for pronunciation. Together, these components picture what a foot leaves behind—the marks and impressions created when someone walks or treads on a surface. The character thus came to mean tracks, prints, and traces of any kind, capturing the physical evidence of movement or action that has passed.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).

13 strokes

Components

  • radical left
  • meaning part right

Common words

  • 遺跡 いせき (archeological) remains; ruins
  • 軌跡 きせき tire track
  • 形跡 けいせき traces; evidence
  • 痕跡 こんせき trace; vestige
  • 失跡 しっせき absconding; disappearance
  • 追跡 ついせき chase; pursuit
  • 筆跡 ひっせき handwriting
  • 足跡 あしあと footprints

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
157
Grade
Jōyō (secondary school)
Frequency rank
#953 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+08DE1