奥 means “interior, back, depths”

おく · oku

Also: heart

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

おく, おくまる, くま

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

オウ

JLPT N2 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Rice (米) stored in a frame (冂) deep inside, with a big (大) figure guarding the way: the far back of the house. 奥 is the interior or the depths, 奥歯 your back teeth, and 奥さん, someone's wife, recalls the inner rooms where the wives of great households lived.

Used in 奥 (oku, back/interior), 奥さん (okusan, wife), and 奥歯 (okuba, back teeth)

More from Halls & Hidden Corners

• 殿 palace
• 隅 corner
• 囲 surround
• 裏 back
• 庫 storehouse
• 底 bottom
• 宇 universe

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

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