舷 means “ship's side, gunwale”

げん · gen

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

ふなばた, ふなべり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ゲン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A boat (舟) and 玄, dark: picture a ship's dark hull rising sheer out of the water. 舷 is a ship's side: 右舷 is starboard, 左舷 is port, and passengers watch the sea through a round 舷窓, a porthole.

Used in 右舷 (ugen, starboard), 左舷 (sagen, port side), and 舷窓 (gensou, porthole)

More from Ships & Shores

• 浜 beach
• 江 inlet
• 浦 inlet
• 津 harbor
• 瀬 rapids
• 潮 tide
• 艦 warship
• 艇 small boat
• 搭 embark
• 漂 drift
• 浪 waves
• 涯 limit

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