兼 means “double as, combine”

かねる · kaneru

Also: concurrently, and, beforehand, in advance

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かねる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ケン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

A hand (⺕) gripping two stalks of grain at once, the traditional picture behind 兼: doing two things together. 兼ねる is to double as, 兼用 is dual use, and the polite 〜かねます means "I'm afraid I can't".

Used in 兼ねる (kaneru, to double as), 兼用 (ken'you, dual use), and 兼任 (kennin, holding two posts)

More from Apart & Together

• 孤 solitary
• 唯 only
• 遇 meet
• 隔 separate
• 随 follow along
• 添 add
• 疎 sparse
• 媒 medium
• 寡 few
• 附 attach
• 独 alone
• 離 separate

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