淵
abyss, edge, deep pool, the depths
Readings
On'yomi
- エン
- カク
- コウ
Kun'yomi
- ふち
- かた.い
- はなわ
Meaning
淵 centers on a deep, dark body of water: an abyss, a deep pool, or the depths. The edge sense is the brink or border of such a deep place.
Most common words using 淵
- 淵ふち
deep pool; deep water; abyss
- 深淵しんえん
abyss; ravine
- 海淵かいえん
(ocean) deep; deepest part of a trench
- 深淵に臨むが如ししんえんにのぞむがごとし
like looking out on an abyss; like standing on the edge of an abyss
- 淵叢えんそう
gathering spot; center; centre
- 淵底えんてい
bottom depths (of water); abyss
- 淵源えんげん
origin
- 淵酔えんすい
type of imperial banquet held during the Heian period and later
Study
Etymology
淵 combines 氵 (water) with a phonetic component that originally depicted a deep, dark pool. The modern form preserves the water radical and a complex right side that suggests depth.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 氵 is water, and the right side looks like a deep, enclosed space. Picture a dark, still pool of water with steep edges: 淵 is the abyss.
Reading mnemonic
For エン, imagine standing at the edge of a deep pool and hearing a distant 'en' echo from the depths: en -> エン, the sound of the abyss.