套
accumulate, big and long, hackneyed
Readings
On'yomi
- トウ
Kun'yomi
- かさ.ねる
Meaning
套 centers on layering or piling up, which leads to the idea of something becoming long and drawn-out, and by extension, trite or overused from repetition.
Most common words using 套
- 外套がいとう
overcoat; greatcoat; cloak; wrap; mantle
- 常套じょうとう
conventional; commonplace; trite; hackneyed
- 常套句じょうとうく
conventional phrase; stock phrase; cliché
- 常套手段じょうとうしゅだん
one's habitual practice; usual measure; old trick
- 夏外套なつがいとう
summer overcoat; light jacket
- 外套眼がいとうがん
mantle eye
- 外套細胞がいとうさいぼう
satellite cell (glial); amphicyte
- 外套膜がいとうまく
mantle (of an invertebrate)
- 常套表現じょうとうひょうげん
conventional (stock) phrase; hackneyed expression; platitude; cliché
- 常套語じょうとうご
hackneyed expression
- 旧套きゅうとう
conventionalism; old style
- 旧套墨守きゅうとうぼくしゅ
clinging to old customs; adhering to old traditions
- 春外套はるがいとう
spring overcoat
- 陳套ちんとう
stale; hackneyed; clichéd
- 雨外套あまがいとう
mackintosh; macintosh; raincoat
Study
Etymology
套 is a phono-semantic compound: 大 (big) on top, and a lower component that historically relates to length or covering. The exact development of the lower part is uncertain, but the character likely expressed the idea of something large and extended.
Meaning mnemonic
The top 大 (big) sits over a long, stretched-out lower shape. Imagine piling big things one on top of another until the stack becomes long and hackneyed from overuse.
Reading mnemonic
For トウ, picture a towering stack of accumulated items: tower -> トウ, and the big pile grows long and trite.