灯 means “lamp, light”
とう · tou
Also: a light, counter for lights
- Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)
- ひ, ほ-, ともしび, ともす, あかり
- On'yomi (Chinese reading)
- トウ
JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 4 · 6 strokes
The story
Fire (火) beside a nail (丁): picture a flame fixed to a post. 灯台 is a lighthouse, but in the saying 灯台下暗し, dark at the lamp's foot, it is an old oil-lamp stand: what's closest is the hardest to see.
Used in 電灯 (dentou, electric light), 灯台 (toudai, lighthouse), and 灯油 (touyu, kerosene)
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Learn 灯 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji
Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.