掛 means “hang, sit”

かける · kakeru

Also: suspend, depend, arrive at

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かける, かけ, かかる, かかり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カイ, ケイ

JLPT N3 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

Picture a hand (扌) hanging up a fortune (卦), like the omikuji slips people tie up at shrines. 掛ける hangs things up, and in a waiting room お掛けください means please take a seat.

Used in 掛ける (kakeru, to hang), 掛け布団 (kakebuton, duvet), and 掛け算 (kakezan, multiplication)

More from Hands at Work

• 取 take
• 組 group
• 置 put
• 構 structure
• 付 attach
• 消 put out
• 配 distribute
• 除 remove
• 押 push
• 欠 lack
• 束 bundle
• 閉 close

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

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