油 means “oil”

あぶら · abura

Also: fat

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

あぶら

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ユ, ユウ

Taught in grade 3 · 8 strokes

The story

Oil ripples on water. Tempura fritters emerge golden, their crispy crust a moment of pure texture.

Used in 天ぷら (tempura) and stir-fries

Its parts

• 氵 Water/liquid · Left side
• 由 Reason/from · Right side

Liquid (氵) that comes from (由) seeds: oil

Kanji that look like 油

• 池 (pond): Both have 氵 (water): 油 has 由 (from), 池 has 也 (also)

More from Food & Dining

• 酢 vinegar
• 酒 alcohol
• 辛 spicy
• 料 cooking
• 米 rice
• 食 eat
• 魚 fish
• 肉 meat
• 汁 soup
• 塩 salt
• 甘 sweet
• 苦 bitter

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

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