腺 means “gland”

せん · sen

Also: (kokuji)

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

Flesh (月) beside a spring (泉): a kanji made in Japan in the Edo period, when doctors translating Dutch anatomy books needed a word for gland. 涙腺 are the tear glands, 甲状腺 the thyroid, and 扁桃腺 the tonsils.

Used in 涙腺 (ruisen, tear gland), 甲状腺 (koujousen, thyroid), and 扁桃腺 (hentousen, tonsils)

More from Inner Organs

• 筋 muscle
• 肝 liver
• 胞 cell
• 肺 lung
• 胆 gallbladder
• 脈 pulse
• 髄 marrow
• 腎 kidney
• 膜 membrane
• 腸 intestines
• 肪 fat
• 椎 vertebra

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