檳
betel-nut palm
Strokes18
Readings
On'yomi
- ビン
- ヒン
Kun'yomi
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Meaning
檳 refers specifically to the betel-nut palm, a type of palm tree. Its meaning is narrow and botanical, without broader abstract extensions.
Most common words using 檳
Study
Etymology
檳 is a phono-semantic compound: 木 (tree) indicates the meaning, while 賓 likely contributes the sound ビン. The character was created to name the betel-nut palm.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 木 (tree) tells you it's a plant, and the right side 賓 looks like a guest under a roof with a shell — imagine a guest offering a betel nut from this palm tree.
Reading mnemonic
For ビン, picture a betel-nut palm growing beside a bin where guests discard the chewed nuts: bin -> ビン.