芽 means “bud, sprout”

め · me

Also: spear, germ

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

め

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ガ

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 4 · 8 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) over a fang (牙): picture a sprout pushing up through the soil like a tooth through a gum. 芽 is a bud or shoot, 発芽 is sprouting, and 芽生える, to bud, is also used of feelings, as in 友情が芽生える.

Used in 芽 (me, bud/sprout), 発芽 (hatsuga, germination), and 芽生える (mebaeru, to bud/begin to grow)

More from Paddy & Pasture

• 苗 seedling
• 刈 cut
• 穀 grain
• 臼 mortar
• 墾 break ground
• 沃 fertile
• 稲 rice plant
• 牧 pasture
• 飼 keep
• 壌 soil
• 培 cultivate
• 肥 fertilizer

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