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Kotomora

戰

war, fighting, battle

StatusJinmeiyō (variant)Strokes16

Readings

On'yomi

  • セン

Kun'yomi

  • いくさ
  • たたか.う
  • おのの.く
  • そよぐ

Meaning

戰 centers on armed conflict: war, fighting, and battle. It captures the idea of organized violence between opposing forces.

Study

Etymology

戰 combines 單 (originally a hunting weapon or net) with 戈 (halberd), together expressing warfare or fighting. The modern Japanese simplified form is 戦.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side 單 suggests a weapon or tool, and the right side 戈 is a halberd. Picture two armed sides clashing: that is war and battle.

Reading mnemonic

For セン, imagine a thousand (千, せん) soldiers marching into battle: 千 -> セン, and the whole scene is war.