薦 means “recommend, put forward”

せん · sen

Also: mat, advise, encourage

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

すすめる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 16 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) over 廌, a one-horned beast of Chinese legend that could tell the guilty from the innocent; the oldest dictionary says 薦 once meant the grass it ate. You 薦める a person or book you vouch for, and 推薦 is a recommendation.

Used in 推薦 (suisen, recommendation), 薦める (susumeru, to recommend), and 自薦 (jisen, self-nomination)

More from Ask & Persuade

• 励 encourage
• 奨 encourage
• 諾 consent
• 嘱 entrust
• 乞 beg
• 応 respond
• 請 request
• 迫 close in
• 誘 invite
• 促 urge
• 勧 advise

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

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