碎
break, smash, broken, busted
StatusJinmeiyō (variant)Strokes13
Readings
On'yomi
- サイ
Kun'yomi
- くだ.く
- くだ.ける
Meaning
碎 centers on forceful destruction into pieces: breaking, smashing, or being broken and busted. The meanings all describe something shattered or reduced to fragments.
Study
Etymology
碎 combines 石 (stone) with 卒, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of finishing or ending, suggesting something broken into pieces by a stone.
Meaning mnemonic
A stone 石 on the left and 卒 on the right: imagine a stone hammer smashing something into fragments, finishing it off.
Reading mnemonic
For サイ, picture a sigh of frustration as a stone breaks something: sigh -> サイ, and the stone smashes it to bits.