Meaning & readings

bequeath, leave behind, reserve

On’yomi イ、ユイ
Kun’yomi のこ.す

Origin

This character combines a movement or walking radical on the left, which suggests the idea of going away or being separated, with the component which serves as a sound hint for how the character is pronounced. The left side carries the core meaning—things left behind or reserved are things that have gone away from us or remain when we depart. By pairing this meaningful component with as a phonetic guide, the character came to represent the idea of bequeathing or leaving something behind for others.

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

15 strokes

Components

  • sound hint nyoc
  • radical bottom-left wrap

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 遺影 いえい portrait of a deceased person
  • 遺憾 いかん regrettable; unsatisfactory
  • 遺言 ゆいごん will; testament
  • 遺構 いこう (archaeological) remains; remnants (of ancient structures)
  • 遺骨 いこつ cremated remains (esp. the bones); ashes
  • 遺恨 いこん grudge; ill will
  • 遺作 いさく posthumous works
  • 遺産 いさん inheritance; bequest

Reference

Strokes
15
Kangxi radical
162
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#647 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 1
Unicode
U+0907A