梦
dream, visionary, wishful
Strokes11
Readings
On'yomi
- ム
- ボウ
Kun'yomi
- ゆめ
- ゆめ.みる
- くら.い
Meaning
梦 centers on the mental world of sleep and imagination: a dream, something visionary, or a wishful thought that feels unreal.
Study
Etymology
梦 is a simplified variant of 夢, which originally combined 目 (eye) with a component suggesting blurred vision, and 夕 (evening), indicating the dim light of dreams. The modern 梦 replaces the upper part with 林 (forest), likely as a simplification, but the historical connection to dreaming is through the older form.
Meaning mnemonic
At evening (夕), when the forest (林) grows dark, your mind wanders into dreams and wishful visions.
Reading mnemonic
For ム, imagine a dream where you are a cow going 'moo' (ム) in a moonlit forest: the moo sound cues ム while you dream under the trees.