Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Animals & Wildlife

貪: covet, indulge in

N1 (our estimate)11 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

貝 carries the meaning · 今 is drawn in

11 strokes

Three readings, and the words that use each

タンtan · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 貪たんcoveting

ドンdon · on'yomi

  • 貪欲どんよく

むさぼるmusaboru · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 貪るむさぼるto covet; to crave; to be greedy for

Also read トン, 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

“Treasure the moment! This radical represents the very origins of commerce and the primal concept of wealth.”
More in the 貝 shell story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
今

Also built on now (今)

貝

Also built on shell (貝)

All 38

Also read タン

22 kanji share this on'yomiAll 22

Also read ドン

2 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read トン

7 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
貪 covet · 今 + 貝
vs頂 place on the head · 丁 + 頁
貪 has 今 + 貝 where 頂 has 丁 + 頁.
In ChineseSimplified 贪 · traditional, as in Japanese · tān

Japan keeps the traditional form 貪; mainland China simplifies it to 贪.

Simplified
贪 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
貪 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin tān 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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