Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Textiles, Plants & Food

茂: overgrown, grow thick

Also: be luxuriant

JLPT N18 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

艹 carries the meaning · 戊 gives the sound

8 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

モmo · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 繁茂はんもflourishing (of plants); thriving

しげるshigeru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 茂るしげるto grow thickly; to be in full leaf
  • 茂みしげみthicket; bush; coppice
  • 生い茂るおいしげるto grow thickly; to be overgrown; to thrive

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

“Grass growing on top! Like a green crown upon the earth, this radical sits above kanji related to flowers, herbs, and vegetation.”
More in the 艹 grass story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
艹

Also built on grass (艹)

All 74
戊

Also built on 戊

Also read モ

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
茂 overgrown · 艹 + 戊
vs戒 commandment · 戈 + 廾
茂 has 艹 + 戊 where 戒 has 戈 + 廾.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · mào

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

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

Pinyin mào 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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