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Kotomora

誕

nativity, be born, declension, lie, be arbitrary

JLPTN1StatusJōyō · grade 6FrequencyTop 2,000Strokes15

Readings

On'yomi

  • タン

Kun'yomi

—

Meaning

誕 centers on coming into existence or being brought forth: being born or nativity. The senses of lying or being arbitrary are extensions of making something up or fabricating a story out of nothing.

Most common words using 誕

20 of 41

Explore all words using 誕 →

Study

Etymology

誕 combines 言 (speech) with 延, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of extending or stretching. The core meaning of birth may come from the idea of extending a family line, while the lying sense relates to stretching the truth with words.

Meaning mnemonic

Words 言 that stretch 延 the truth can give birth to lies. Picture a tall tale being born from someone's mouth.

Reading mnemonic

For タン, imagine a tanuki giving birth to a litter of little tanuki while telling tall tales: tan -> タン.