Onyomi: ジ, ジョ · Kunyomi: -よ.け, のぞ.く · Meanings: abolish, cancel, division (x/3), except, exclude, remove
Kanji for abolish, cancel, division x3, except, exclude
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除 is built from the left radical 阝, meaning a hill or place, and the character 余 on the right. In ancient writing, 余 showed a person with extra space or something left over. When combined with the idea of a place or boundary, the meaning became “to clear out what is extra” or “to remove what is not needed from a space.” Over time, this evolved into the concept of removing, excluding, or getting rid of something — creating a clean or open area by taking away the unnecessary.
除 shows the idea of clearing away what is extra: a place or boundary on the left, and “extra/leftover” on the right. Together they express removing or excluding something to make space.
Picture yourself standing by a boundary (阝) and sweeping away anything extra (余) to clear the area — that act of removing or excluding something is 除.
| Word | Reading | Meaning | Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 除 | じょ | division | Noun |
| 避ける | さける | to avoid (physical contact with) | common JLPT-N3 Ichidan verb, Transitive verb |
| 除く | のぞく | to remove, to get rid of, to take away, to eliminate | common JLPT-N3 Godan verb with 'ku' ending, Transitive verb |
| 除外 | じょがい | exception, exclusion | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 徐行 | じょこう | going slowly (esp. to enable a vehicle to stop immediately), going at a reduced speed, slowing down, reducing speed | common JLPT-N1 Noun, Suru verb, Intransitive verb |
| 除雪 | じょせつ | snow removal | Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb, Intransitive verb |
| 除いて | のぞいて | except, save | common Expressions (phrases, clauses, etc.) |
| 除名 | じょめい | striking off a name, dropping a name (from a list), expulsion, excommunication | common Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 除去 | じょきょ | removal, getting rid of | common Noun, Suru verb, Transitive verb |
| 徐々に | じょじょに | gradually, steadily, slowly, little by little, step by step, by degrees | common Adverb (fukushi) |