牽
pull, tug, drag, lead by hand
Readings
On'yomi
- ケン
Kun'yomi
- ひ.く
Meaning
牽 centers on applying force to move something along: pulling, tugging, dragging, or leading by hand.
Most common words using 牽
- 牽引けんいん
traction; towing; hauling; pulling; drawing
- 牽制けんせい
check; keeping in check; restraint; curbing; reining in; discouraging (from doing)
- 牽制作戦けんせいさくせん
diversionary operations
- 牽制球けんせいきゅう
pickoff throw; pickoff attempt
- 牽引力けんいんりょく
pulling power
- 牽引役けんいんやく
leading force; driving force; leader
- 牽引療法けんいんりょうほう
traction therapy
- 牽引車けんいんしゃ
tractor; towing vehicle
- 牽強けんきょう
distortion of facts
- 牽強付会けんきょうふかい
strained (argument, interpretation, etc.); farfetched (theory, view, etc.); forced; laboured; twisted (reasoning)
- 牽束けんそく
restraint; being exclusively absorbed in something
- 牽牛けんぎゅう
Altair (star in the constellation Aquila); Alpha Aquilae
- 牽牛子けんごし
morning glory seeds (medicinal use)
- 牽牛星けんぎゅうせい
Altair (star in the constellation Aquila); Alpha Aquilae
- 牽連けんれん
related to
- 牽連犯けんれんはん
implicated offense (where the means or result constitutes a separate offense); connected offense
Study
Etymology
牽 combines 牛 (cow) with an upper element that originally represented a rope or halter, suggesting leading an animal by pulling. The modern upper shape is simplified and its exact historical development is uncertain.
Meaning mnemonic
The bottom is 牛 (cow), and the top looks like a rope or halter. Imagine a farmer pulling a stubborn cow by a rope: 牽 means pull, tug, or lead by hand.
Reading mnemonic
For ケン, picture a strong man named Ken pulling a cow with a rope: Ken -> ケン, and he tugs the cow forward.