核 means “nucleus, core, nuclear”

かく · kaku

Also: kernel

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

カク

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

Wood (木) beside 亥, the boar of the zodiac: picture the hard stone at the heart of a peach. 核 is a core: the nucleus of an atom or a cell, 中核, the heart of a group, 核家族, the nuclear family, and 核兵器, nuclear weapons.

Used in 核兵器 (kakuheiki, nuclear weapons), 結核 (kekkaku, tuberculosis), and 中核 (chuukaku, core)

More from Atoms & Acids

• 素 element
• 析 analyze
• 酸 acid
• 粘 sticky
• 鉛 lead (metal)
• 凝 congeal
• 窒 block
• 硫 sulfur
• 硝 saltpeter

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

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