専 means “specialty, exclusive”

せん · sen

Also: mainly, solely

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

もっぱら

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

セン

JLPT N2 · Taught in grade 6 · 9 strokes

The story

Picture a hand (寸) turning a spindle round and round, eyes on nothing else: one thing only. 専門 is your field of expertise, 専攻 your major at university, and on Japanese trains 女性専用車 marks a car for women only.

Used in 専門 (senmon, specialty/field), 専用 (sen'you, exclusive use), and 専攻 (senkou, major/field of study)

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

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