篤 means “sincere, devout, serious”

とく · toku

Also: fervent, kind, cordial

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): あつい
On'yomi (Chinese reading): トク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 16 strokes

The story

Bamboo (⺮) over a horse (馬): picture a steady old horse plodding a bamboo path, slow but sure. 篤 is deep and sincere: 信仰が篤い is devout, a 篤志家 gives generously, and at its gravest 危篤 means a patient is critically ill.

Used in 危篤 (kitoku, critical condition), 篤志家 (tokushika, philanthropist), and 篤い (atsui, deep/devout)

篤 means “sincere, devout, serious”

The story

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