Onyomi: ト · Kunyomi: ぬ.り, ぬ.る, まみ.れる · Meanings: coating, daub, paint, plaster, smear
Kanji for coating, daub, paint, plaster, smear
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塗 is formed from the water radical 氵 on the left and the character 余 on the right. 氵 represents liquid, while 余 suggests something spread or left over. Together, they show liquid being spread over a surface. From this structure, 塗 came to mean to paint, coat, or apply.
塗 shows liquid being spread, meaning paint or coat.
Think of liquid (氵) being spread evenly across something (余). That action of covering a surface with liquid is 塗. Remember 塗 as painting or coating something.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 塗 | みどろ | covered with, stained, smeared | Suffix |
| 塗り | ぬり | coating (esp. lacquering) | Noun |
| 塗る | ぬる | to paint, to spread, to plaster, to apply (cream, lotion), to smear, to lacquer, to varnish, to put up (wallpaper) | common JLPT-N4 Godan verb with 'ru' ending, Transitive verb |
| 塗装 | とそう | coating, painting | common Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 塗り替える | ぬりかえる | to repaint, to paint again, to paint (a different colour) | common Ichidan verb, Transitive verb |
| 塗布 | とふ | application (of ointment, etc.) | Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 塗りたてる | ぬりたてる | to put on heavy makeup, to powder heavily | Ichidan verb, Transitive verb |
| 塗り直し | ぬりなおし | re-coating (e.g. repainting, respraying, etc.) | Noun, Suru verb |
| 塗りたくる | ぬりたくる | to bedaub (with paint), to besmear, to paint heavily, to spread thickly | Godan verb with 'ru' ending, Transitive verb |
| 塗りつぶす | ぬりつぶす | to paint over, to paint out, to fill in, to cover completely (with paint) | Godan verb with 'su' ending, Transitive verb |