斧
ax, hatchet
Readings
On'yomi
- フ
Kun'yomi
- おの
Meaning
斧 centers on a heavy bladed tool for chopping: an ax or hatchet.
Most common words using 斧
- 斧おの
axe; ax; hatchet
- 手斧ておの
hatchet
- 石斧せきふ
stone axe (ax)
- 多頭石斧たとうせきふ
stone axe with multiple cutting edges (Jōmon period)
- 戦斧せんぷ
battleaxe
- 握斧あくふ
(Paleolithic) hand axe
- 斧よき
hatchet
- 斧斤ふきん
axe
- 斧旁おのづくり
kanji "axe" radical at right
- 斧槍ふそう
halberd
- 斧正ふせい
correction; revision
- 斧琴菊よきこときく
dyeing pattern with a yoki, koto bridge and a chrysanthemum
- 斧石おのいし
axinite
- 斧足類ふそくるい
pelecypods (i.e. bivalves)
- 斧鉞ふえつ
axe
- 斧鑿ふさく
lucubration; elaboration; chisel and ax
- 斧頭ふとう
axe-head; ax-head
- 蟷螂の斧とうろうのおの
courageous but doomed resistance
- 金の斧きんのおの
The Honest Woodcutter (fable by Aesop); The Golden Axe
- 鉄斧てっぷ
iron axe head
Study
Etymology
斧 combines 父 (which here likely represents a hand holding something) and 斤 (ax), together suggesting a hand-held ax.
Meaning mnemonic
The top 父 looks like a hand gripping a handle, and the bottom 斤 is an ax blade. Picture a hand swinging an ax down to chop wood.
Reading mnemonic
For フ, imagine the sound of an ax swinging through the air: "foo!" The whooshing sound cues フ as the ax chops.