KANJI: KEI GYOU kata (form, shape, pattern, style)

ASCII Art Representation:

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Character Etymology:

Once written with the leftmost radical replaced by a pictograph of a grill or lattice window, like #, here meaning pattern or frame. The radical at right is hairs of the human or type used in the making of a brush but none-the-less reinforcing the idea of pattern/shape, to give a meaning of to write down/copy a pattern. Form is an associated meaning.

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

on-yomi: KEI GYOU
kun-yomi: kata -gata katachi nari

Nanori Readings:

Nanori: chi

English Definitions:

1. GYOU, KEI: shape.
2. kata: shape, form, make, size, format, mark; pattern, design.
3. katachi: form; shape; personal appearance.
4. nari: form, figure, apperance, dress.

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 1713
Henshall: 104

Unicode Encoded Version:

形

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

人形 (ningyou): a doll.
形成 (keisei): formation.
形見 (katami): memento, souvenir.

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