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Kotomora

辺

environs, boundary, border, vicinity

JLPTN2StatusJōyō · grade 4FrequencyTop 500Strokes5

Readings

On'yomi

  • ヘン

Kun'yomi

  • あた.り
  • ほと.り
  • -べ

Nanori

  • なべ

Meaning

辺 centers on the area near a boundary or edge: the environs, vicinity, or border of a place.

Most common words using 辺

20 of 156
  • 辺りあたり
    N4

    (in the) neighbourhood; neighborhood; vicinity; nearby; surroundings

  • 周辺しゅうへん
    N2

    circumference; outskirts; environs; around; in the area of; in the vicinity of

  • 辺へん
    N1

    area; vicinity; region

  • 近辺きんぺん

    neighbourhood; neighborhood; vicinity

  • 海辺うみべ
    N2

    beach; seashore; seaside; coast

  • 底辺ていへん

    base (of a polygon)

  • 浜辺はまべ
    N1

    beach; foreshore

  • 天辺てっぺん
    N1

    top; summit; apex; peak

  • 辺境へんきょう

    remote region; outlying district; border district; frontier

  • 身辺しんぺん

    one's person; around one's person

  • 水辺みずべ

    water's edge; waterside; shore

  • 辺ほとり
    N1

    side (esp. of a waterbody); edge; bank; shore

  • 一辺倒いっぺんとう

    complete devotion (to); total commitment (to); unvarying support (for); unwavering fixation (on); rigid preoccupation (with)

  • 川辺かわべ

    riverside; riverbank; edge of a river

  • 窓辺まどべ

    by the window

  • 岸辺きしべ
    N1

    shore; bank (of a body of water)

  • 上辺うわべ

    exterior; surface; outside

  • 磯辺いそべ

    seashore; beach

  • 山辺やまべ

    mountain; vicinity of a mountain

  • 辺鄙へんぴ

    hard to reach place; remote place

Explore all words using 辺 →

Study

Etymology

辺 is the modern simplified form of 邊. The older form combines 辶 (movement) with 臱, which likely contributed the sound and the idea of a border or edge. The modern 刀 inside is a simplification.

Meaning mnemonic

The movement radical 辶 surrounds a sword 刀, like a blade marking the edge of a territory. Picture walking along the border with a sword to define the boundary.

Reading mnemonic

For ヘン, imagine a hen pecking at the ground right at the border of its coop: hen -> ヘン, and the hen marks the edge of its territory.