漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
効: merit, efficacy
Also: efficiency, benefit
JLPT N28 strokesGrade 5Your ink: 白 Not met
力 carries the meaning · 交 gives the sound
8 strokes
Two readings, and the words that use each
コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 効こうefficacy, benefit, effect
- 効果こうかefficacy, benefit, effect
- 効率こうりつefficiency
- 効力こうりょくefficacy, benefit, effect
- 無効むこうinvalid, of no effect [n.]
- 時効じこうstatute of limitations
- 薬効やっこうefficacy of a drug or medicine
- 特効薬とっこうやくspecific medicine, wonder drug
- 即効性そっこうせいimmediate effect
- 有効なゆうこうなvalid, effective
きくkiku · kun'yomi · on its own
- 効くきくbe effective, take effect
- 効き目ききめefficacy, benefit, effect
Also read ききめ, ならう, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)交 (sound) + 攴 to strike; action, as 攵 (meaning)
Source: Wiktionary, 效 (rev. 93182197), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Flex your arm and feel the power! That's 力, representing the raw muscle and effort required to change the world.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
交
Also built on mingle (交)
効 takes the 交 family's reading, コウ (kou).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side効 merit · 力
vs郊 outskirts · ⻏In ChineseA Japanese form · Chinese writes 效 · xiào
効 is a Japanese simplification. Chinese writes 效 in both simplified and traditional script.
- Simplified
- 效 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 效 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin xiào most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.
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