荅
adzuki beans, thick
Strokes9
Readings
On'yomi
- トウ
Kun'yomi
- あずき
- こた.える
Meaning
荅 centers on the adzuki bean plant and its pods, which are thick or dense with beans. The 'thick' sense extends naturally from the compact, clustered nature of the bean pods.
Study
Etymology
荅 combines the grass radical 艹 with 合, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to a type of bean plant, with the 'thick' meaning possibly derived from the dense clustering of the beans.
Meaning mnemonic
The grass radical 艹 sits above 合, like a plant whose pods come together thickly. Picture adzuki bean pods packed tightly under the leaves.
Reading mnemonic
For トウ, imagine a thick toe of adzuki bean paste: toe -> トウ, and the paste is dense and thick.