漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
乗: ride, power
Also: multiplication, record, counter for vehicles, board, mount, join
千 and 木 are drawn in
Oracle bone · Shang Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Four readings, and the words that use each
ジョウjou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 乗用車じょうようしゃautomobile
- 乗客じょうきゃくpassenger
- 乗車するじょうしゃするget inside (train, car, bus, etc.)
- 乗馬するじょうばするride a horse
- 同乗するどうじょうするride together
- 試乗するしじょうするtest drive [v.i.]
- 乗じるじょうじるtake advantage of
のるnoru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 乗るのるget on [v.i.]
-のり-nori · kun'yomi
- 乗り物のりものvehicle
のせるnoseru · kun'yomi
- 乗せるのせるgive a ride [v.t.]
Also read ショウ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
A person 大 climbing a tree 木, with the feet visible. Etymology clearer in alternative form 椉.
Source: Wiktionary, 乘 (rev. 93647752), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Sweeping stroke (丿) + a tree (木) + person. Originally depicted a person climbing and "riding" on the top of a wooden structure or tree.”
Connections
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseA Japanese form · Chinese writes 乘 · chéng
乗 is a Japanese simplification. Chinese writes 乘 in both simplified and traditional script.
- Simplified
- 乘 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 乘 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin chéng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.