惡
bad, evil
StatusJinmeiyō (variant)Strokes12
Readings
On'yomi
- アク
- オ
Kun'yomi
- わる.い
- あ.し
- にく.い
- ああ
- いずくに
- いずくんぞ
- にく.む
Meaning
惡 centers on moral wrongness: something bad, wicked, or evil. It is the traditional form of 悪, carrying the same core idea of negative moral quality.
Study
Etymology
惡 combines 亞 (originally a pictograph of a vault or complex structure, later associated with 'second' or 'inferior') with 心 (heart/mind), suggesting a twisted or inferior heart leading to badness or evil.
Meaning mnemonic
The top 亞 looks like a twisted, complex structure, and the bottom 心 is the heart. Imagine a heart tangled in a crooked, inferior framework — that twisted heart produces bad and evil thoughts.
Reading mnemonic
For アク, picture an evil act: act -> アク, and the twisted heart in 惡 drives someone to commit that bad act.