Onyomi: シャク, セツ · Kunyomi: -お.り, お.り, お.る, お.れる, おり · Meanings: bend, break, fold, fracture, submit, yield
Kanji for bend, break, fold, fracture, submit
Fast lookup with examples and clean stroke-order visualization.
Experience 折 in 3D! View the complete 3D Kanji model to understand its shape and stroke depth from every angle. Click the button below to see 折 in 3D and explore how each stroke forms this character.
Please support us by sharing!
Find visually similar kanji, commonly confused characters, related meanings, and useful words connected to 折.
The kanji 折 comes from two parts: 扌, the “hand” radical, and 斤, meaning “axe” or “blade.” In ancient times, this combination represented using the hand and a tool to snap, cut, or break something. The original image was of a person chopping wood or folding something forcefully until it broke. Over time, it came to mean “to break,” “to fold,” or “to bend,” depending on how the hand interacts with the object.
折 shows a hand (扌) working with a blade (斤) — the action of breaking, cutting, or folding something with force or precision. It carries the sense of something being divided or bent by hand.
Picture your hand (扌) holding a small axe (斤) to chop or fold a branch — that’s 折, the act of breaking or folding something with effort.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 折 | おり | opportunity, chance, occasion, time | common Noun, Adverb (fukushi) |
| 折る | おる | to break, to fracture, to break off, to snap off, to pick (e.g. flowers) | common JLPT-N4 Godan verb with 'ru' ending, Transitive verb |
| 折れる | おれる | to break, to be broken, to snap, to fracture | common JLPT-N4 Ichidan verb, Intransitive verb |
| 折角 | せっかく | with trouble, at great pains | common JLPT-N2 Adverb (fukushi), Noun |
| 剥ぐ | はぐ | to tear off, to peel off, to rip off, to strip off, to skin, to flay, to bark | common JLPT-N1 Godan verb with 'gu' ending, Transitive verb |
| 折り紙 | おりがみ | origami, art of paper folding | common Noun |
| 折り合い | おりあい | agreement (e.g. business, dispute), understanding, compromise, settlement | common Noun |
| 折衝 | せっしょう | negotiation | common Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 折り返し | おりかえし | by return, (call or write back) without delay | common Adverb (fukushi) |
| 折りたたみ | おりたたみ | folding, collapsible, telescopic | common Noun or verb acting prenominally, Noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no' |