騎 means “horseback rider, cavalry”

き · ki

Also: equestrian, riding on horses, counter for equestrians

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

キ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 18 strokes

The story

A horse (馬) with a strange (奇) figure perched on top: picture the rider. 騎 counts warriors on horseback: 騎手 is a jockey, 騎士 a European knight, and a 一騎打ち, one horseman facing another, now names any two-way race or head-to-head final.

Used in 騎手 (kishu, jockey), 騎士 (kishi, knight), and 一騎打ち (ikkiuchi, one-on-one showdown)

More from Samurai & Soldiers

• 藩 feudal domain
• 侍 samurai
• 屯 be stationed
• 曹 sergeant
• 尉 junior officer
• 隷 slave
• 帥 commander-in-chief
• 佐 aide
• 士 warrior
• 隊 troop
• 塁 base (baseball)
• 陣 battle camp

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

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