積 means “pile up, load”

つむ · tsumu

Also: volume, product (x*y), acreage, contents

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つむ, つもる, つもり

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セキ

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 4 · 16 strokes

The story

Picture grain (禾) stacked high to cover what is owed (責): sheaves piled up after the harvest. 積む is to stack or load, snow 積もる, piles up, deep in Niigata, and a 見積もり is a quote that adds it all up.

Used in 積む (tsumu, to stack/load), 積もる (tsumoru, to pile up), and 面積 (menseki, area)

More from How Much, How Many

• 単 single
• 類 kind
• 余 surplus
• 等 equal
• 列 row
• 幾 how many
• 全 all
• 最 most
• 加 add
• 増 increase
• 両 both
• 割 split

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