漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons
強: strong
厶 and 虫 carry the meaning · 弓 carries meaning and sound
Small seal · Qin Today
Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Six readings, and the words that use each
キョウkyou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 勉強するべんきょうするstudy
- 強化するきょうかするstrengthen
- 強力なきょうりょくなpowerful
ゴウgou · on'yomi
- 強情なごうじょうなobstinate
- 強引なごういんなcoercive
- 強盗ごうとうrobbery
つよいtsuyoi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 強いつよいstrong
つよまるtsuyomaru · kun'yomi
- 強まるつよまるget strong [v.i.]
つよめるtsuyomeru · kun'yomi
- 強めるつよめるstrengthen [v.t.]
しいるshiiru · kun'yomi
- 強いるしいるforce, compel
Also read こわい, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)
A Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 虫 and phonetic 𪪺.
Source: Wiktionary, 強 (rev. 93585557), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Bow radical + insect/creature (mushi) = the tremendous physical strength required to string and draw a bow made of animal horn and sinew.”
Connections
The 弓 sound family doesn't share one reading.
Also read ゴウ
12 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSimplified 强 · traditional, as in Japanese · qiáng
Japan keeps the traditional form 強; mainland China simplifies it to 强.
- Simplified
- 强 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 強 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin qiáng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.