漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement
正: correct, justice
Also: righteous, 10**40
一 and 止 carry the meaning
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Zhou Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Five readings, and the words that use each
セイsei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 正解せいかいcorrect answer
- 正義せいぎjustice
- 正確なせいかくなaccurate
- 正常なせいじょうなnormal
- 不正なふせいなunjust
- 修正するしゅうせいするrevise
ショウshou · on'yomi
- 正気しょうきsanity
ただしいtadashii · kun'yomi · on its own
- 正しいただしいcorrect [adj.]
ただすtadasu · kun'yomi
- 正すただすstraighten
まさにmasani · kun'yomi
- 正にまさにsurely
Also read まさ, 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)丁 (sound) + 止 (meaning)
Source: Wiktionary, 正 (rev. 93806076), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“One (一) + stop = stopping exactly at the 'one' right place; the quality of being true, correct, and just.”
Connections
正 gives its sound to
The family reading is ショウ (shou). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zhèng
Same form: 正 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 正 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 正 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin zhèng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.