堤 means “embankment, levee”

てい · tei

Also: dike, bank

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つつみ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

テイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Earth (土) beside 是, straight and right: soil packed firm to hold a river back. 堤防 is a levee, like the grassy banks lined with cherry trees along many Japanese rivers, and 防波堤 is a breakwater facing the sea.

Used in 堤防 (teibou, levee/embankment), 防波堤 (bouhatei, breakwater), and 堤 (tsutsumi, bank/dike)

More from Streams & Springs

• 澄 become clear
• 溝 ditch
• 渦 whirlpool
• 泡 bubble
• 濁 muddy
• 渇 thirst
• 畔 shore
• 渓 mountain stream
• 湧 gush
• 溺 drown
• 沢 mountain stream
• 井 well

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

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