栗
chestnut
Readings
On'yomi
- リツ
- リ
Kun'yomi
- くり
- おののく
Nanori
- くる
- りっ
Meaning
栗 centers on the chestnut, a specific type of nut with a prickly husk. The meaning is concrete and does not extend into abstract senses.
Most common words using 栗
20 of 64- 栗鼠りす
squirrel (any mammal of family Sciuridae)
- 栗くりN1
Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata)
- 片栗粉かたくりこ
potato starch
- 甘栗あまぐり
broiled sweet chestnuts
- 片栗かたくり
dogtooth violet (Erythronium japonicum)
- 栗毛くりげ
chestnut (horse coat color)
- 栗色くりいろ
chestnut-color; chestnut-colour
- 栗鼠猿りすざる
squirrel monkey (esp. the common squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus)
- 毬栗いがぐり
chestnut in its burr
- アメリカ栗アメリカぐり
American chestnut (Castanea dentata)
- コモン栗鼠猿コモンりすざる
common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus)
- シベリア縞栗鼠シベリアしまりす
Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus)
- ボリビア栗鼠猿ボリビアりすざる
black-capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis)
- ヨーロッパ栗ヨーロッパぐり
European chestnut
- 割栗わりぐり
crushed stone; hardcore; macadam
- 割栗石わりぐりいし
crushed stone; hardcore; macadam
- 勝栗かちぐり
dried chestnut
- 北栗鼠きたりす
red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
- 台湾栗鼠たいわんりす
Taiwanese squirrel (subspecies of Pallas's squirrel, Callosciurus erythraeus thaiwanensis)
- 団栗南瓜どんぐりかぼちゃ
acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo var. turbinata)
Study
Etymology
栗 combines 覀 (a variant of 西, originally depicting a bag or container) with 木 (tree), suggesting a tree that produces chestnuts. The character likely originated as a pictograph of a chestnut tree with spiky fruits.
Meaning mnemonic
The top 覀 looks like a spiky chestnut husk, and the bottom 木 is a tree. Together they show a chestnut growing on a tree.
Reading mnemonic
For リツ, imagine a chestnut tree that produces a rich, rhythmic harvest: the sound 'rits' echoes the rhythm of falling nuts. Rits -> リツ.