KANJI: KOU hika (light, shine)

ASCII Art Representation:

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Character Etymology:

Older forms of this character reveal the top portion to be a variant of the character for fire, with the bottom two strokes representing a bending person. Some scholars feel that this bottom portion exists purely to phonetically express big, giving a meaning of something like big fire and thus light. However, the positioning of the components suggests a fire carried overhead, for example a torch.

A Listing of All On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi Readings:

on-yomi: KOU
kun-yomi: hika(ru) hikari aki akira koo teru hiko mi mitsu

Nanori Readings:

Nanori:

English Definitions:

1. KOU: light.
2. hika(ru): shine, glitter, sparkle, twinkle, flash.
3. hika(rakasu), hika(rasu): show one's authority, strut around; shine (a light) on.
4. hikari: light, beam, flash, glare, gleam, twinkle, sparkle, glimmer, glow, brightness, radience, glitter, luster; influence (of parents).

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 349
Henshall: 116

Unicode Encoded Version:

光

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

日光 (nikkou): sunlight.
光年 (kounen): light year.
光学 (kougaku): the study of optics.
光合成 (kougousei): photosynthesis.

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