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Kotomora

髁

thigh bone, hipbone, kneecap

Strokes18

Readings

On'yomi

  • カイ
  • ケ
  • カ

Kun'yomi

  • もも

Meaning

髁 centers on large bones of the leg: the thigh bone, hipbone, and kneecap. These are all major structural bones that support the body.

Study

Etymology

髁 combines 骨 (bone) with 果, which likely contributes the sound. The character was created to name specific leg bones.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side 骨 means bone. The right side 果 looks like a fruit on a tree, but here think of the round, hard fruit as the round, hard bones of the hip and knee. Together they point to the big leg bones.

Reading mnemonic

For カイ, imagine a thigh bone shaped like a kayak paddle: kayak -> カイ, and the bone helps you paddle through deep water.