褐 means “brown”

かつ · katsu

Also: woollen kimono

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カツ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

Clothing (衤) beside 曷: 褐 once meant the coarse undyed cloth of the poor, and now names its color. It is the brown of 褐色, as in 褐色の肌, deeply tanned skin, and of 茶褐色 fallen leaves.

Used in 褐色 (kasshoku, brown), 茶褐色 (chakasshoku, dark yellowish brown), and 褐炭 (kattan, brown coal)

More from Shades & Dyes

• 瑠 lapis lazuli
• 璃 lapis lazuli
• 鮮 vivid
• 染 dye
• 彩 color
• 丹 red
• 玄 dark
• 淡 pale
• 朱 vermilion
• 紺 navy blue
• 藍 indigo
• 斑 spot

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

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