隆 means “rise, swell, prosper”

りゅう · ryuu

Also: hump, high, noble, prosperity

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

リュウ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 11 strokes

The story

A hill (阝) with life (生) rising under a walking foot (夂): ground heaving up underfoot. 隆 is a rise or a peak: 隆起 is uplift, as when an earthquake lifts a coastline, 隆盛 is an age at its height, and 隆 is a common name, Takashi.

Used in 隆起 (ryuuki, uplift/swelling), 隆盛 (ryuusei, prosperity/height of power), and 興隆 (kouryuu, rise/prosperity)

More from Grow & Wane

• 茂 grow thick
• 繁 thriving
• 尽 run out
• 膨 swell
• 殖 multiply
• 騰 soar
• 衰 decline
• 累 accumulate
• 堆 pile
• 旺 flourishing
• 耗 wear down
• 勃 sudden rise

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

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