骸
bone, body, corpse
Readings
On'yomi
- ガイ
- カイ
Kun'yomi
- むくろ
Meaning
骸 centers on the physical remains of a living thing after death: the bones, the body, or a corpse. The idea connects the structural framework (bone) with the whole dead body.
Most common words using 骸
- 残骸ざんがい
ruins; wreckage; wreck; broken remains; debris
- 死骸しがい
(dead) body; corpse; carcass; remains
- 骸骨がいこつN1
skeleton
- 形骸けいがい
(soulless) body
- 亡骸なきがらN1
remains; corpse; (dead) body
- 遺骸いがい
remains; corpse; body
- 形骸化けいがいか
becoming a mere shell; becoming a dead letter; losing (one's) substance; being reduced to a formality
- 聖骸布せいがいふ
holy shroud (i.e. the Shroud of Turin)
- 超新星残骸ちょうしんせいざんがい
supernova remnant; SNR
- 骸晶がいしょう
hopper crystal; skeleton crystal
- 骸炭がいたん
coke (carbon fuel)
- 骸骨を乞うがいこつをこう
to tender one's resignation
Study
Etymology
骸 combines 骨 (bone) with 亥, which likely contributes the sound. The character originally referred to bones or skeletal remains, extending to the whole corpse.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side is 骨 (bone), and the right side 亥 looks like a twisted body. Picture a skeleton with its bones jumbled together — that's a corpse.
Reading mnemonic
For ガイ, imagine a guy discovering a skeleton: guy -> ガイ, and the bones are all that remain of the body.