弧 means “arc, curve”

こ · ko

Also: arch, bow

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

コ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 9 strokes

The story

A bow (弓) beside a melon (瓜): picture the curve of a drawn bow and the round belly of a melon. 弧 is an arc, the path of a thrown ball, and Japanese brackets are 括弧, from the 「 」 quote marks to the ( ) of math.

Used in 括弧 (kakko, brackets/parentheses), 円弧 (enko, circular arc), and 弧を描く (ko o egaku, to trace an arc)

More from Shapes & Angles

• 隙 gap
• 環 ring
• 枠 frame
• 端 edge
• 距 distance
• 圏 sphere
• 縦 vertical
• 緯 latitude
• 径 diameter
• 斜 diagonal
• 傍 beside
• 塊 lump

Learn 弧 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.