Nihongo

Kanji Detail of 褐

褐

Level:N1 High
Strokes:13
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AI Explanation
Basic Meaning

The kanji 褐 primarily conveys the meaning of "brown," specifically referring to a yellowish-brown color. It can also describe a type of coarse cloth.

Readings

・On-yomi (音読み): カツ ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): かっしょく (as in 褐色, "brown color")

Usage Examples

⚫︎褐色の髪 Translation: Brown hair ⚫︎褐色細胞 Translation: Brown fat cell ⚫︎枯れ褐葉 Translation: Dead brown leaves

Origin and Formation

The kanji 褐 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字, けいせいいもじ). The semantic component is 衤 (衣, clothing), which provides the meaning related to clothing, and the phonetic component is 曷 (katsu), which suggests the sound. Therefore, it originally referred to coarse clothing that had a brownish color. Over time, the meaning shifted to refer to the color itself.

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