禿
become bald, bare, wear out, waste away, little girl employed at a brothel
Readings
On'yomi
- トク
Kun'yomi
- ちび.る
- かむろ
- は.げる
- はげ
Meaning
禿 centers on loss or absence of covering: becoming bald, bare, or worn out. The rare brothel-girl meaning is a historical application of the 'bare' idea.
Most common words using 禿
20 of 24- 禿はげN1
baldness; bald head
- 禿鷹はげたか
vulture; condor
- 禿げるはげるN1
to lose hair; to become bald
- 禿鷲はげわし
Old World vulture
- 禿げ頭はげあたま
bald head
- つるっ禿つるっぱげ
shiny, bald head; person with a shiny, bald head
- バーコード禿バーコードはげ
someone with hair combed in stripes across their bald spot
- 丸禿まるはげ
complete baldness
- 愚禿ぐとく
I; me
- 白襟禿鷲しろえりはげわし
griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus)
- 禿かぶろ
children's hairstyle of short untied hair; child with short untied hair
- 禿げ茶瓶はげちゃびん
bald head; balding head
- 禿びるちびる
to get blunt; to dull; to wear out
- 禿同はげどう
I strongly agree
- 禿尖鼠ちびとがりねずみ
Eurasian least shrew (Sorex minutissimus); lesser pygmy shrew
- 禿尾土竜ちびおもぐら
Himalayan mole (Euroscaptor micrura)
- 禿瘡とくそう
alopecia areata
- 禿筆とくひつ
worn-out brush
- 禿袋鼯鼠ちびふくろももんが
feather-tailed glider (Acrobates pygmaeus); feathertail glider; flying mouse; pygmy gliding possum
- 禿頭病とくとうびょう
alopecia; loss of hair
Study
Etymology
禿 is thought to combine 禾 (grain) with 儿 (legs), possibly depicting grain stalks with bare, exposed lower parts, suggesting baldness or bareness.
Meaning mnemonic
Grain 禾 on top with legs 儿 below: imagine a field of grain where the lower stalks are bare and worn, like a bald head.
Reading mnemonic
For トク, picture a bald monk named Toku meditating in a bare field: Toku -> トク, and his head is as bare as the worn grain stalks.