Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

窟: cavern

N1 (our estimate)13 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

穴 carries the meaning · 屈 is drawn in

13 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

クツkutsu · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 洞窟どうくつcave; cavern; grotto
  • 仙窟せんくつenchanted cave

いわやiwaya · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 窟いわやcave; cavern; grotto

Also read コツ, いはや, あな, 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

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“When you see this 'hole' crown on top of a kanji, imagine a roof with an opening. It tells you that the character involves a hollow space, a window, or something that is hidden deep inside a structure.”
More in the 穴 hole story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
穴

Also built on hole (穴)

All 8
屈

Also built on yield (屈)

Also read クツ

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read コツ

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
窟 cavern · 穴
vs堀 ditch · 土
窟 has 穴 where 堀 has 土.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · kū

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

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

Pinyin kū most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

One click tells us. No sign-up.