負 means “lose, bear”

まける · makeru

Also: defeat, negative, -, minus

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

まける, まかす, おう

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

フ

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 3 · 9 strokes

The story

A person (⺈) hunched over a load of shells (貝): bearing a weight. 負ける is to lose, 負担 is a burden, and when haggling at a market, まけて, "give in a little", is how you ask for a lower price.

Used in 負ける (makeru, to lose), 勝負 (shoubu, match/contest), and 負担 (futan, burden)

More from Victory & Defeat

• 失 lose
• 段 step
• 敗 defeat
• 突 thrust
• 破 tear
• 抜 pull out
• 努 effort
• 倒 fall
• 戦 fight
• 勝 win
• 打 hit
• 争 compete

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