躍 means “leap, dance”

やく · yaku

Also: skip

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

おどる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ヤク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 21 strokes

The story

A foot (⻊) beside wings (羽) over a bird (隹): picture a pheasant bursting up from the grass. 躍 is a leap: 活躍 is shining in action, 飛躍 a great leap forward, and when 胸が躍る your heart leaps with excitement.

Used in 活躍 (katsuyaku, active role/shining), 飛躍 (hiyaku, leap/rapid progress), and 躍る (odoru, to leap)

More from Bodies in Motion

• 駆 gallop
• 揺 shake
• 滑 slide
• 屈 bend
• 翻 flip
• 践 put into practice
• 赴 proceed
• 跳 jump
• 垂 hang down
• 奔 rush
• 蹴 kick
• 踏 step on

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

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