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Kotomora

靠

lean on

Strokes15

Readings

On'yomi

  • コウ

Kun'yomi

  • もた.れる
  • たが.う
  • よ.る

Meaning

靠 centers on physical reliance: leaning on something for support. The given meaning 'lean on' captures this idea directly.

Study

Etymology

靠 is composed of 告 (announce, tell) on top and 非 (not, wrong) on the bottom. The historical development is uncertain, but it may have originally combined a sound element with a semantic element related to leaning or depending.

Meaning mnemonic

Imagine someone announcing (告) that they are not (非) able to stand on their own, so they lean on a wall for support.

Reading mnemonic

For コウ, picture a person leaning on a coat rack: coat -> コウ, and the rack supports them as they lean.