KANJI: CHOU (town, block)

ASCII Art Representation:

 
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Character Etymology:

A combination of the characters for field and nail. The latter was used to phonetically express walk and also lent its T-shape to suggest a junction of paths. This character origionally meant paths through the fields, and by extension came to mean the place where fields join, then finally area/community.

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

on-yomi: CHOU
kun-yomi: machi

English Definitions:

  1. CHOU: town; block; street; 2.45 acres; 119 yards.
  2. machi: town; quarters; street.

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 3729
Henshall: 57

Unicode Encoded Version:

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

(chounin): merchant
町長 (chouchou): town mayor, town head.
(machikado): street corner.

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