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Kotomora

穅

chaff, bran, husks of grain, (from which comes: poor, remiss)

Strokes16

Readings

On'yomi

  • コウ

Kun'yomi

  • ぬか
  • むな.しい

Meaning

穅 centers on the worthless outer parts of grain: chaff, bran, and husks. The extended sense of poor or remiss comes from the idea of something empty and without substance.

Study

Etymology

穅 combines 禾 (grain) with 康, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of emptiness or hollowness, reflecting the worthless husks left after threshing.

Meaning mnemonic

Grain 禾 beside 康 (which can suggest emptiness) gives the image of empty grain husks: chaff and bran, the worthless leftovers.

Reading mnemonic

For コウ, imagine a pile of chaff so light that a single cough (コウ) sends it flying away: cough -> コウ, and the empty husks scatter.