馛
fragrance, fragrant
Strokes14
Readings
On'yomi
- ハツ
- バチ
- ヘツ
- ヘチ
Kun'yomi
- にお.い
- こうば.しい
Meaning
馛 centers on a pleasant, sweet smell: something fragrant or aromatic. The meanings "fragrance" and "fragrant" are two sides of the same idea—the quality and the thing that has it.
Study
Etymology
馛 combines 香 (fragrance) with 犮, which likely contributes the sound. The character is a phono-semantic compound where the left side gives the meaning and the right side hints at the pronunciation.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 香 means fragrance or incense. The right side 犮 looks like a person waving something aromatic. Imagine someone fanning a cloud of sweet incense smoke: 馛 is the fragrance that spreads.
Reading mnemonic
For ハツ, picture a hot, fragrant dish that makes you say "HOT!" when you smell it: HOT -> ハツ, and the steam carries the scent.