Skip to content
Kotomora

栗

chestnut

JLPTN1StatusJinmeiyōFrequencyTop 2,000Strokes10

Readings

On'yomi

  • リツ
  • リ

Kun'yomi

  • くり
  • おののく

Nanori

  • くる
  • りっ

Meaning

栗 centers on the chestnut, a specific type of nut with a prickly husk. The meaning is concrete and does not extend into abstract senses.

Most common words using 栗

20 of 64
  • 栗鼠りす

    squirrel (any mammal of family Sciuridae)

  • 栗くり
    N1

    Japanese chestnut (Castanea crenata)

  • 片栗粉かたくりこ

    potato starch

  • 甘栗あまぐり

    broiled sweet chestnuts

  • 片栗かたくり

    dogtooth violet (Erythronium japonicum)

  • 栗毛くりげ

    chestnut (horse coat color)

  • 栗色くりいろ

    chestnut-color; chestnut-colour

  • 栗鼠猿りすざる

    squirrel monkey (esp. the common squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus)

  • 毬栗いがぐり

    chestnut in its burr

  • アメリカ栗アメリカぐり

    American chestnut (Castanea dentata)

  • コモン栗鼠猿コモンりすざる

    common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus)

  • シベリア縞栗鼠シベリアしまりす

    Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus)

  • ボリビア栗鼠猿ボリビアりすざる

    black-capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis)

  • ヨーロッパ栗ヨーロッパぐり

    European chestnut

  • 割栗わりぐり

    crushed stone; hardcore; macadam

  • 割栗石わりぐりいし

    crushed stone; hardcore; macadam

  • 勝栗かちぐり

    dried chestnut

  • 北栗鼠きたりす

    red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

  • 台湾栗鼠たいわんりす

    Taiwanese squirrel (subspecies of Pallas's squirrel, Callosciurus erythraeus thaiwanensis)

  • 団栗南瓜どんぐりかぼちゃ

    acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo var. turbinata)

Explore all words using 栗 →

Study

Etymology

栗 combines 覀 (a variant of 西, originally depicting a bag or container) with 木 (tree), suggesting a tree that produces chestnuts. The character likely originated as a pictograph of a chestnut tree with spiky fruits.

Meaning mnemonic

The top 覀 looks like a spiky chestnut husk, and the bottom 木 is a tree. Together they show a chestnut growing on a tree.

Reading mnemonic

For リツ, imagine a chestnut tree that produces a rich, rhythmic harvest: the sound 'rits' echoes the rhythm of falling nuts. Rits -> リツ.