candy, cakes, fruit
菓 centers on sweet edible treats, especially those made from fruit or plant-based ingredients: candy, cakes, and confections. The fruit sense is the original plant product that often becomes a sweet.
菓 combines the plant radical 艹 with 果 (fruit), suggesting a plant-based sweet or fruit-derived confection. The character likely developed to specifically denote sweets and cakes made from fruits or plants.
The plant top 艹 sits above 果 (fruit). Picture fruit from a plant being turned into candy and cakes: 菓 is the sweet result.
For カ, imagine a car filled with candy and cakes: car -> カ, and the sweets are made from fruit.
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confections; sweets; candy; cake
confectionery; sweets; candy; cake
wagashi; traditional Japanese confectionery
penny candy; cheap individually wrapped sweets
confectionery production
Western confectionery
snack food (esp. potato chips, popcorn, etc.); munchie
frozen dessert (e.g. ice cream, sorbet, ice pop)
Hyōka (2001 novel and media franchise)
baked sweet goods (e.g. Danish pastry, melon bread); sweet pastry; sweet bread
excellent sweet; confection of an established name
fruit
cake served with tea; teacake
fresh Japanese sweets (usu. containing red bean paste)
Kameda Seika Company
confectionery making
confectionery shop; candy store; sweet shop
bean-jam cake; rice-cake sweets
puffed cereal
compressed tablet candy; glucose tablet