Meaning & readings

army, force, troops, war, battle

On’yomi グン
Kun’yomi いくさ

Origin

This character combines the idea of a covered or enclosed space (the roof-like top component) with a cart or vehicle (the bottom component). In ancient times, armies traveled and fought using horse-drawn carts and chariots, which were crucial military tools. By putting these two ideas together—something enclosed or gathered, plus vehicles—the character came to represent the organized forces and equipment of an army. The covered top may suggest troops gathered under a roof or banner, while the cart below shows the transportation and mobility that defined military forces.

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

9 strokes

Components

  • radical top
  • radical bottom

Common words

  • 一軍 いちぐん an army
  • 援軍 えんぐん reinforcement
  • 海軍 かいぐん navy; naval force
  • 空軍 くうぐん air force
  • 軍医 ぐんい military doctor; army surgeon
  • 軍拡 ぐんかく military expansion; arms buildup
  • 軍艦 ぐんかん warship; battleship
  • 軍機 ぐんき military secret; classified military material

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
159
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#189 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08ECD