Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

脇: armpit, the other way

Also: another place, flank, supporting role

N1 (our estimate)10 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

月 carries the meaning · 劦 is drawn in

10 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

わきwaki · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 脇わきarmpit; under one's arm; side
  • 脇役わきやくsupporting role (actor); minor role
  • 脇見わきみlooking aside

わけwake · kun'yomi

  • 関脇せきわけwrestler of the third highest rank

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

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成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“It looks like the moon, but it's actually muscle! When you see this "moon" on the left side of a character, don't think of the night sky—think of your own body.”
More in the 月 meat story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
月

Also built on meat (月)

All 63
劦

Also built on 劦

Also read キョウ

47 kanji share this on'yomiAll 47

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
脇 armpit
vs脅 threaten
Same parts, arranged differently.
In ChineseSimplified 胁 · traditional, as in Japanese · xié

Japan keeps the traditional form 脇; mainland China simplifies it to 胁.

Simplified
胁 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
脇 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin xié 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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