鎌 means “sickle”

かま · kama

Also: scythe, trick

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かま

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

レン, ケン

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 18 strokes

The story

Metal (金) beside 兼, a hand holding two stalks: picture a blade sweeping through a fistful of grain. 鎌 is a sickle, the city of 鎌倉 gave its name to the first shogunate's age, and 鎌をかける is to trick someone into letting a secret slip.

Used in 鎌 (kama, sickle), 鎌倉 (kamakura, Kamakura), and 鎌をかける (kama o kakeru, to trick someone into talking)

More from Paddy & Pasture

• 穫 harvest
• 穂 ear of grain
• 芽 bud
• 苗 seedling
• 刈 cut
• 穀 grain
• 臼 mortar
• 墾 break ground
• 沃 fertile
• 稲 rice plant
• 牧 pasture
• 飼 keep

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

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