僊
hermit
Strokes13
Readings
On'yomi
- セン
Kun'yomi
—
Meaning
僊 centers on a person who withdraws from society to live in solitude, often for spiritual reasons: a hermit.
Study
Etymology
僊 combines the person radical 亻 with 䙴, which likely contributes the sound and may relate to rising or moving away, fitting the idea of a hermit who withdraws from the world. The exact historical development of 䙴 is uncertain.
Meaning mnemonic
A person 亻 beside the complex shape 䙴 (which looks like a piled-up structure) suggests someone who has piled up their belongings and left society to live alone as a hermit.
Reading mnemonic
For セン, picture a hermit sending a single smoke signal from the mountain: send -> セン, and the hermit's solitary life is signaled by that one plume.