羅 means “net, gauze, spread out”

ら · ra

Also: thin silk, Rome, arrange

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

うすもの

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ラ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 19 strokes

The story

A net (罒) over 維, fiber: a mesh of threads spread wide. 羅 is a net or thin silk gauze, and it spreads things out: 網羅 is covering every item, 羅列 a long list, 羅針盤 a compass, and 羅生門 the gate of Akutagawa's story.

Used in 網羅 (moura, covering everything), 羅列 (raretsu, enumeration), and 羅針盤 (rashinban, compass)

More from Silk & Sleeves

• 紡 spin (thread)
• 絹 silk
• 袖 sleeve
• 襟 collar
• 蚕 silkworm
• 裾 hem
• 繭 cocoon
• 巾 cloth
• 織 weave
• 脱 take off
• 麻 hemp
• 錦 brocade

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

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