殖 means “multiply, breed”

しょく · shoku

Also: augment, increase, raise

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ふえる, ふやす

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ショク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Bones (歹) beside 直, straight: picture new life shooting straight up from what has died, like mushrooms on a fallen log. 殖 is to multiply: 繁殖 is breeding, 増殖 proliferating, and 養殖 is fish and oyster farming, as on Hiroshima's oyster rafts.

Used in 養殖 (youshoku, aquaculture/farming), 繁殖 (hanshoku, breeding), and 増殖 (zoushoku, multiplication)

More from Grow & Wane

• 騰 soar
• 衰 decline
• 累 accumulate
• 堆 pile
• 旺 flourishing
• 耗 wear down
• 勃 sudden rise
• 展 unfold
• 張 stretch
• 拡 expand
• 盛 heap up
• 興 interest

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

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