服 means “clothing”

ふく · fuku

Also: admit, obey, discharge

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

フク

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 3 · 8 strokes

The story

Cloth fitted to the body the way a boat fits the water: clothes as obedient servants of the form. When Japan adopted Western dress it called it 洋服, "ocean clothes," garments from across the sea.

Used in 洋服 (youfuku, Western clothes), 制服 (seifuku, uniform), and 服装 (fukusou, attire)

More from Everyday Japan

• 曜 day of week
• 飯 meal
• 洗 wash
• 同 same
• 円 circle
• 度 degrees
• 午 noon
• 名 name
• 物 thing
• 電 electricity
• 真 true
• 有 possess

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

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