令 means “order, command”

れい · rei

Also: orders, laws, decree

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

レイ

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 4 · 5 strokes

The story

A person kneeling (卩) under a roof (亼): bowing to receive an order. 命令 is a command and 法令 a law, while the era name 令和, chosen in 2019, borrows 令 in its old sense of fine and auspicious from a preface in the 万葉集, Japan's oldest poetry anthology.

Used in 命令 (meirei, order/command), 法令 (hourei, laws and ordinances), and 令和 (reiwa, the Reiwa era)

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

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