Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement

殖: augment, increase

Also: multiply, raise

JLPT N112 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

歹 carries the meaning · 直 gives the sound

12 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

ショクshoku · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 増殖ぞうしょくincrease; multiplication; propagation
  • 繁殖はんしょくbreeding; propagation; reproduction
  • 養殖ようしょくaquaculture; culture; cultivation
  • 生殖せいしょくreproduction
  • 拓殖たくしょくcolonization; colonisation; development

ふえるfueru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 殖えるふえるto increase; to multiply

Also read ふやす, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)歹 (meaning) + 直 (sound)

Source: Wiktionary, 殖 (rev. 93444106), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Death (歹) + upright/straight (直). To take something that was dead or decaying (like compost) and use it to "multiply" and increase the fertility of the land.”
From the 歹 death story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
歹

Also built on death (歹)

All 5
直

Also built on straightaway (直)

The 直 family reads チ (chi); 殖 is read ショク.

Also read ショク

11 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
殖 augment · 歹
vs植 plant · 木
殖 has 歹 where 植 has 木.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · zhí

Same form: 殖 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
殖 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
殖 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin zhí 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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