腎 means “kidney”

じん · jin

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ジン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 13 strokes

The story

A retainer (臣) and a hand (又) over flesh (月): picture the kidneys as guards sorting what stays and what goes. 腎臓 is the kidney, and 肝腎, liver and kidneys, is another way to write 肝心, the most vital point.

Used in 腎臓 (jinzou, kidney), 肝腎 (kanjin, essential/crucial), and 副腎 (fukujin, adrenal gland)

More from Inner Organs

• 膜 membrane
• 腸 intestines
• 肪 fat
• 椎 vertebra
• 剖 dissect
• 泌 secrete
• 脊 spine
• 腺 gland
• 筋 muscle
• 肝 liver
• 胞 cell
• 肺 lung

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