茎 means “stem, stalk”

くき · kuki

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

くき

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ケイ, キョウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 8 strokes

The story

Grass (艹) over 圣, a hand (又) pressed into soil (土): the stalk that holds a plant up out of the ground. 茎 is a stem, a 地下茎 is a rhizome running underground, and 歯茎, 'tooth stems', are your gums.

Used in 茎 (kuki, stem), 歯茎 (haguki, gums), and 地下茎 (chikakei, rhizome)

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