由 — reason, cause, from

よし由 reason

U+7531 Unicode hex codepoint — a unique identifier for this character in the Unicode standard. JLPT 3 Japanese-Language Proficiency Test level. N5 is beginner, N1 is the most advanced. This kanji appears at the 3 level. Grade 3 Japanese school grade level in which this kanji is taught. Grade 1 is first year of elementary school. 5 strokes Freq #325 Frequency rank among the ~2,500 most common kanji in Japanese newspapers. Lower number = more common. Heisig #1101 Index in James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" — a popular textbook that teaches kanji through mnemonics and stories.

Meanings

reason
cause
from

word

よし yoshi Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).

由(よし) yoshi reason

ゆ yu On'yomi On'yomi (音読み) — the Sino-Japanese reading, derived from Chinese pronunciation. Most commonly used in compound words (jukugo).

経(けい) 由(ゆ) keiyu via 由(ゆ) 来(らい) yurai origin

ゆう yuu On'yomi On'yomi (音読み) — the Sino-Japanese reading, derived from Chinese pronunciation. Most commonly used in compound words (jukugo).

自(じ) 由(ゆう) jiyuu freedom 理(り) 由(ゆう) riyuu reason

Stroke order

Stroke data from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Components

Kangxi Radical

田

#102

rice paddy, field

Building Blocks

た田 rice field #102

丨 pole

Pictographic (象形). A sprout (丨) growing out of a field (田). The original meaning was sprout from, extended to reason, cause.

Used as component in (1)

き黄 yellow

Visually similar

た田 rice field もう申 say humbly きのえ甲 shell