戚
grieve, relatives
Readings
On'yomi
- ソク
- セキ
Kun'yomi
- いた.む
- うれ.える
- みうち
Meaning
戚 centers on sorrow and close family ties: grieving or worrying, and the relatives who share that grief. The two ideas connect through the emotional weight of kinship.
Most common words using 戚
- 親戚しんせきN4
relative; relation; kin
- 休戚きゅうせき
weal and woe; joys and sorrows; welfare
- 外戚がいせき
maternal relative
- 姻戚いんせき
in-law; relative by marriage
- 姻戚関係いんせきかんけい
relation by marriage
- 憂戚ゆうせき
grief
- 縁戚えんせき
relative
- 親戚付き合いしんせきづきあい
relations with one's relatives; socializing with relatives
- 親戚故旧しんせきこきゅう
relatives and old friends
- 親戚眷属しんせきけんぞく
one's family and relatives; one's kith and kin
- 親戚知己しんせきちき
relatives and acquaintances
- 親戚関係しんせきかんけい
relations; members of extended family
- 遠くの親戚より近くの他人とおくのしんせきよりちかくのたにん
a neighbour is better than a relative living far
- 遠戚えんせき
distant relative
Study
Etymology
戚 combines 戊 (a halberd-like weapon) with 尗 (a phonetic component suggesting sorrow). The weapon element may have contributed a sense of threat or grief, while 尗 provided the sound and emotional core.
Meaning mnemonic
Outside, a halberd (戊) looms; inside, a small sorrow (尗) grows. Imagine a weapon bringing grief to a family, so 戚 means both grieving and the relatives who mourn together.
Reading mnemonic
For ソク, picture a grieving relative seeking solace in a sock: sock -> ソク, and the soft sock soothes their sorrow.