膝 means “knee, lap”

ひざ · hiza

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): ひざ
On'yomi (Chinese reading): シツ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 15 strokes

The story

Flesh (月) and 桼, the lacquer tree with sap (氺) dripping from it: picture a bent knee polished like lacquer. 膝 is the knee and the lap: 膝枕 is resting your head on someone's lap, and 膝を交える is sitting knee to knee for a real talk.

Used in 膝 (hiza, knee/lap), 膝枕 (hizamakura, resting one's head on a lap), and 膝小僧 (hizakozou, kneecap)

膝 means “knee, lap”

The story

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