Meaning & readings

deposit, custody, leave with, entrust to

On’yomi
Kun’yomi あず.ける、あず.かる

Origin

This character combines a sound hint with a meaning classifier. The right side, 頁, represents the head or a person, acting as a classifier to signal this kanji concerns human matters. The left side, , serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation "yo." The idea of depositing or entrusting something — leaving it in someone else's care — naturally connects to people and personal responsibility, which is why the person-related classifier was chosen. Over time, the character came to mean entrusting money or goods to another person's custody.

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

13 strokes

Components

  • sound hint left
  • radical right

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

Common words

  • 預金 よきん deposit; bank account
  • 預託 よたく depositing (of money, valuables, etc.); deposition
  • 預かり あずかり safekeeping; temporary custody
  • 預かる あずかる to look after; to take care of
  • 預ける あずける to leave (in someone's keeping); to put (in someone's care)
  • 預貯金 よちょきん deposits and savings; bank account
  • 普通預金 ふつうよきん ordinary deposit
  • 預かり所 あずかりじょ cloakroom; parcel room

Reference

Strokes
13
Kangxi radical
181
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#981 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+09810