寧 means “polite, careful, peaceful”

ねい · nei

Also: rather, preferably, quiet

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

むしろ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ネイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 14 strokes

The story

Under a roof (宀), a heart (心) settled above a table set out (罒 on 丁): picture a home kept with care. 丁寧 is polite and careful, the word for neat work and for the 丁寧語 of です and ます, while 安寧 is public peace.

Used in 丁寧 (teinei, polite/careful), 丁寧語 (teineigo, polite language), and 安寧 (annei, peace and order)

More from Rest & Unrest

• 憩 rest
• 睡 sleep
• 悠 leisurely
• 閑 quiet
• 醒 awaken
• 緊 tense
• 緩 loose
• 騒 make noise
• 妥 compromise
• 泰 peaceful
• 黙 be silent
• 穏 calm

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