戦 means “fight, war, battle”

たたかう · tatakau

Also: match

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

いくさ, たたかう, おののく, そよぐ, わななく

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 4 · 13 strokes

The story

Picture a single (単) soldier with a halberd (戈) raised: ready for battle. 戦う is to fight, 戦争 is war, and 挑戦, taking up a challenge, is how Japanese talks about attempting something hard.

Used in 戦う (tatakau, to fight), 戦争 (sensou, war), and 挑戦 (chousen, challenge)

More from Victory & Defeat

• 勝 win
• 打 hit
• 争 compete
• 位 rank
• 格 status
• 球 ball
• 負 lose
• 失 lose
• 段 step
• 敗 defeat
• 突 thrust
• 破 tear

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