Onyomi: ジュウ, ニュウ · Kunyomi: やわ, やわ.ら, やわ.らか, やわ.らかい · Meanings: gentleness, softness, tender, weakness
Kanji for gentleness, softness, tender, weakness
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柔 is made from 木 (tree) and 矛 (spear). A tree branch bends instead of breaking when pushed. From the idea of bending without force, 柔 came to mean soft, gentle, or flexible.
柔 means bending softly without breaking.
Imagine pressing a tree branch ????, it bends gently instead of snapping. That soft flexibility is 柔.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 柔 | じゅう | softness, gentleness, weakness | Noun |
| 柔 | やわ | soft, weak, fragile, poorly built, insubstantial | Na-adjective (keiyodoshi) |
| 柔ら | やわら | judo, jujutsu | Noun |
| 柔道 | じゅうどう | judo | common JLPT-N4 Noun |
| 柔らかい | やわらかい | soft, tender, supple, flexible, limber, limp | common JLPT-N4 JLPT-N2 I-adjective (keiyoushi) |
| 柔軟 | じゅうなん | flexible, lithe, soft, pliable | common JLPT-N1 Na-adjective (keiyodoshi), Noun |
| イカ | イカ | cuttlefish, squid | common Noun |
| 柔らか | やわらか | soft, tender, pliant, supple | common Na-adjective (keiyodoshi) |
| 和らぐ | やわらぐ | to soften, to calm down, to be eased, to be mitigated, to subside, to abate | common Godan verb with 'gu' ending, Intransitive verb |
| 従順 | じゅうじゅん | obedient, submissive, docile, meek, pliant | Na-adjective (keiyodoshi), Noun |