Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Textiles, Plants & Food

裂: split, rend

Also: tear

JLPT N112 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

衣 carries the meaning · 列 gives the sound

12 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

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

Three readings, and the words that use each

レツretsu · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 分裂ぶんれつsplit; division; break up
  • 亀裂きれつcrack; crevice; fissure
  • 決裂けつれつbreakdown (of talks, negotiations, etc.)
  • 破裂はれつbursting; rupture; explosion
  • 核分裂かくぶんれつnuclear fission

さくsaku · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 裂くさくto tear; to rip up
  • 引き裂くひきさくto tear up; to tear off; to rip up

さけるsakeru · kun'yomi

  • 裂けるさけるto split; to tear; to burst

Also read -ぎれ, 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

“Dress for the occasion! This radical represents the protective layers we wear and the social identity that fine clothing provides.”
More in the 衣 clothes story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
列

Also built on file (列)

裂 takes the 列 family's reading, レツ (retsu).

衣

Also built on clothes (衣)

All 17

Also read レツ

4 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
裂 split · 衣
vs烈 ardent · 灬
裂 has 衣 where 烈 has 灬.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · liè

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

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

Pinyin liè 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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