Skip to content
Kotomora

粱

high quality rice

Strokes13

Readings

On'yomi

  • リョウ

Kun'yomi

  • あわ

Meaning

粱 centers on high-quality grain, specifically fine rice or millet. It refers to superior staple food, often contrasted with coarser grains.

Most common words using 粱

  • 高粱こうりょう

    kaoliang; variety of sorghum, esp. used in making spirits

  • 高粱酒こうりょうしゅ

    kaoliang (strong distilled Chinese alcohol made from sorghum)

  • 黄粱こうりょう

    foxtail millet (Setaria italica); Italian millet (also Hungarian, German)

  • 黄粱一炊こうりょういっすい

    fleeting nature of riches and honour (honor)

Explore all words using 粱 →

Study

Etymology

粱 combines 米 (rice/grain) with a phonetic component derived from 梁 (リョウ). The upper part historically relates to a bridge or beam, but here it primarily indicates the sound, while 米 specifies the meaning as a type of grain.

Meaning mnemonic

The bottom 米 is rice. The top looks like a complex structure with water (氵) and a knife (刀) cutting something. Imagine a special irrigation system (氵) and careful cutting (刀) used to cultivate only the finest grains, resulting in high quality rice.

Reading mnemonic

For リョウ, think of a 'ryo' (an invented name) chef who only cooks with the highest quality rice. Ryo -> リョウ, and his dishes are always made from 粱.