胤
descendent, issue, offspring
Readings
On'yomi
- イン
Kun'yomi
- たね
Nanori
- つぎ
- つぐ
- かず
Meaning
胤 centers on the continuation of a bloodline: a descendant, offspring, or issue that carries forward a family line.
Most common words using 胤
- 胤たね
issue; offspring; paternal blood
- 因果の胤を宿すいんがのたねをやどす
to become pregnant with an illegitimate child
- 後胤こういん
descendant; scion
- 皇胤こういん
Imperial descendant (posterity)
- 胤裔いんえい
successor; descendant
- 落とし胤おとしだね
illegitimate child (usu. of a nobleman)
- 落胤らくいん
nobleman's illegitimate child
- 血胤けついん
lineage; stock; descent; strain; blood relationship
Study
Etymology
胤 combines 月 (flesh/body) with 幺 (thread) and 儿 (legs), suggesting a thread of flesh continuing through descendants. The exact historical development is uncertain, but the component combination likely expresses lineage.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 月 represents flesh or body, while the right side 幺 (thread) over 儿 (legs) looks like a thread being passed down. Imagine a family thread woven through generations, each descendant a new strand.
Reading mnemonic
For イン, picture an inn where a family line continues: inn -> イン, and each descendant stays at the same ancestral inn.