漸
steadily, gradually advancing, finally, barely
Readings
On'yomi
- ゼン
Kun'yomi
- ようや.く
- やや
- ようよ.う
- すす.む
Meaning
漸 centers on slow, incremental progress: moving forward steadily, step by step, until finally reaching a point, even if only barely.
Most common words using 漸
20 of 23- 漸ぜん
gradual progress
- 漸減ぜんげん
gradual decrease; decline
- 漸進ぜんしん
gradual progress; steady advance
- 漸次ぜんじ
gradually; slowly; little by little; incrementally
- 東漸とうぜん
eastward advance
- 漸化式ぜんかしき
recurrence relation; recurrence formula
- 漸増ぜんぞう
gradual increase
- 漸層法ぜんそうほう
climax (rhetoric); gradation
- 漸悟ぜんご
gradual enlightenment
- 漸新世ぜんしんせい
Oligocene epoch
- 漸次的ぜんじてき
gradual; slow
- 漸深海帯ぜんしんかいたい
bathyal zone; midnight zone; bathypelagic
- 漸漸ぜんぜん
gradually; by degrees
- 漸落ぜんらく
gradual decline
- 漸落市況ぜんらくしきょう
sagging market
- 漸近ぜんきん
asymptote
- 漸近的自由ぜんきんてきじゆう
asymptotic freedom
- 漸近線ぜんきんせん
asymptotic line
- 漸進主義ぜんしんしゅぎ
gradualism; slow-and-steady policy
- 漸進的ぜんしんてき
gradual
Study
Etymology
漸 combines 氵 (water) with 斬, which likely contributes the sound. The water radical suggests gradual soaking or erosion, fitting the idea of slow, steady advance.
Meaning mnemonic
Water 氵 slowly cuts through even the hardest material, like a river carving a canyon. The right side 斬 (cut) reinforces the image of gradual, persistent progress.
Reading mnemonic
For ゼン, picture a Zen monk patiently meditating as water drips steadily on a stone: Zen -> ゼン, and the water gradually wears the stone away.