河 means “river”

か · ka

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かわ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カ

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 5 · 8 strokes

The story

Water (氵) with 可 for its sound: in ancient China 河 named the Yellow River, 黄河, and it still means a great river. 運河 is a canal, 河川 the formal word for rivers, and 銀河, the "silver river," is a galaxy or the Milky Way itself.

Used in 銀河 (ginga, galaxy/Milky Way), 運河 (unga, canal), and 河川 (kasen, rivers)

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

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