漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons
臼: mortar
N1 (our estimate)6 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met
6 strokes
Small seal · Qin Today
Small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
キュウkyuu · on'yomi · in compounds
- 臼歯きゅうしmolar (tooth); grinder; premolar
- 臼砲きゅうほうmortar
うすusu · kun'yomi · on its own
- 臼うすmillstone; mortar
Also read グ, うすづく, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.
成り立ち
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
A mortar. See the original version of 舂, in which a pestle is visible on top.
Source: Wiktionary, 臼 (rev. 93434475), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Grind it down! Imagine a sturdy stone mortar sitting in a kitchen, ready to turn raw grain into flour.”
繋がり
Connections
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by side臼 mortar
vs自 oneselfIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · jiù
Same form: 臼 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 臼 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 臼 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin jiù 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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