悦 means “joy, rapture”

えつ · etsu

Also: ecstasy

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

よろこぶ, よろこばす

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

エツ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 10 strokes

The story

The heart (忄) beside a mouth (口) on legs (儿), with little lines (丷) of laughter rising over it: picture someone grinning to themselves. 悦 is private pleasure: 喜悦 is rapture, and 悦に入る is to sit back, quietly pleased with yourself.

Used in 喜悦 (kietsu, rapture), 悦楽 (etsuraku, pleasure), and 悦に入る (etsu ni iru, to be pleased with oneself)

More from Joy & Sorrow

• 慨 deep emotion
• 愉 pleasure
• 煩 bother
• 慕 adore
• 愁 melancholy
• 憧 long for
• 爽 refreshing
• 憬 yearning
• 鬱 gloom
• 歓 delight
• 慰 console
• 悔 regret

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

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