Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Action & Movement

誓: vow, swear

Also: pledge

JLPT N114 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

言 carries the meaning · 折 gives the sound

14 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

セイsei · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 宣誓せんせい
  • 誓約せいやくoath; vow; pledge
  • 誓約書せいやくしょwritten oath; covenant; pledge

ちかうchikau · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 誓いちかいoath; vow
  • 誓うちかうto swear; to vow; to take an oath
  • 誓ってちかってsurely; upon my word; by Jove

Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Phono-semantic compound (形聲)折 (sound) + 言 speech (meaning)

Source: Wiktionary, 誓 (rev. 93486394), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Break off/decide (折) + words (言). Words that "cut off" every other choice—a solemn vow or oath.”
From the 言 words story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
折

Also built on fold (折)

誓 takes the 折 family's reading, セイ (sei).

言

Also built on speech (言)

All 72

Also read セイ

43 kanji share this on'yomiAll 43

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
誓 vow · 折
vs訴 accusation · 斥
誓 has 折 where 訴 has 斥.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shì

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

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

Pinyin shì 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.