培 means “cultivate, foster”

ばい · bai

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つちかう

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

バイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

Earth (土) beside 咅: picture soil heaped around a seedling's roots so it stands firm. 培う is to cultivate, skills and character as well as crops, 栽培 is growing plants, and 培養 is growing cells in a lab.

Used in 栽培 (saibai, cultivation), 培う (tsuchikau, to cultivate/foster), and 培養 (baiyou, culture, in biology)

More from Paddy & Pasture

• 肥 fertilizer
• 俵 straw bale
• 栽 plant
• 拓 clear land
• 鎌 sickle
• 穫 harvest
• 穂 ear of grain
• 芽 bud
• 苗 seedling
• 刈 cut
• 穀 grain
• 臼 mortar

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

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