Kanji 母 — "Mother"
Here is what 母 means, how it is read, what it is built from, and a story that makes "Mother" stick.
Also means: Mom, Mum
How it is read
ぼ
the reading borrowed from Chinese — usually appears in compound words
はは, も
the native Japanese reading — usually appears when the kanji stands alone
How to remember it
Kanji are not random strokes. Learn the parts and the whole becomes easy. Put the parts together into one picture. The stranger it is, the harder it is to forget.
Straightforward — Mother means mother, same as the component!
- 母 Mother
The Mother is lying on her side nursing her baby. This shape is her two breasts.
Words that use 母
12 of 13 words in the app that contain this kanji — the most common ones first.
- 母 はは (my) mother
- お母さん おかあさん mother
- 母親 ははおや mother
- 伯母 おば (humble) aunt (older than one's parent)
- 祖母 そぼ grandmother
- 叔母 おば aunt (younger than one's parent)
- 母校 ぼこう alma mater
- 母の日 ははのひ Mother's Day
- 父母 ふぼ father and mother, parents
- 母国 ぼこく one's home country (same as 自分の国 (じぶんのくに))
- 分母 ぶんぼ denominator
- 小母さん おばさん lady, woman, ma'am
Want 母 to still be there next month?
Reading it once is not remembering it. The app brings each kanji back right before you would have forgotten it.
