斤 means “axe, loaf (unit)”

きん · kin

Also: 1.32 lb, catty, counter for loaves of bread

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 4 strokes

The story

The old picture of an axe, head and handle, still swinging in 新, 断 and 折. As a weight 斤 was about 600 grams, and the name lives on at the bakery: Japanese white bread, 食パン, is sold by the 斤, now a loaf of 340 grams or more.

Used in 一斤 (ikkin, one loaf) and 斤量 (kinryou, weight)

More from Old Measures

• 箇 item
• 第 number (ordinal prefix)
• 丈 length
• 寸 sun (about 3 cm)
• 坪 tsubo (about 3.3 square meters)
• 厘 rin
• 乙 second
• 斗 dipper
• 尺 shaku
• 升 sho (about 1.8 liters)
• 畝 ridge (in a field)
• 壱 one (formal)

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