畳
tatami mat, counter for tatami mats, fold, shut up, do away with
Readings
On'yomi
- ジョウ
- チョウ
Kun'yomi
- たた.む
- たたみ
- かさ.なる
Meaning
畳 centers on layering and stacking: folding something flat, piling up, or the familiar tatami mat that covers a floor in layers. The counter sense is a natural extension of counting those layered mats.
Most common words using 畳
20 of 68- 畳たたみN4
tatami mat; Japanese straw floor coverings
- 畳じょうN2
tatami mat (esp. as a measure of room size, either 1.82 sqm or 1.54 sqm)
- 畳むたたむN3
to fold (clothes, umbrella)
- 四畳半よじょうはん
four and a half tatami mats; four-and-a-half-mat room
- 石畳いしだたみ
stone paving; cobble paving; sett; flagstone
- 畳み掛けるたたみかける
to give no leeway; to press (for an answer, etc.); to shower (questions on someone)
- 畳み込みたたみこみ
convolution
- 千畳敷せんじょうじき
very spacious hall; grand space; thousand-tatami area
- 重畳ちょうじょう
being placed one upon another; piling up; being atop another
- 畳表たたみおもて
facing of a tatami mat
- 畳敷きたたみじき
tatami-matted
- ユニット畳ユニットたたみ
thin tatami mat that can be placed on flooring
- 一畳いちじょう
one mat
- 三畳紀さんじょうき
Triassic period
- 上げ畳あげだたみ
tatami mat finished on both sides
- 二畳紀にじょうき
Permian period
- 半畳はんじょう
half tatami mat
- 半畳を入れるはんじょうをいれる
to interrupt; to jeer
- 半畳を打つはんじょうをうつ
to interrupt; to jeer
- 四畳半趣味よじょうはんしゅみ
enjoying food, drink and entertainment in a small room
Study
Etymology
畳 combines 田 (field) with 冝, a component that likely represents something stacked or layered. The character originally referred to piling or folding, and later came to mean tatami mats as layered floor coverings.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side is a field 田, and the right side looks like a stack of folded cloth or mats. Picture a field covered with layered tatami mats, each one folded and stacked neatly.
Reading mnemonic
For ジョウ, imagine a tatami mat showroom where every mat is displayed in a neat row: show -> ジョウ, and the mats are layered like the character's stacked right side.