椎 means “vertebra, shii tree”

つい · tsui

Also: chinquapin, mallet, spine

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): つち, うつ
On'yomi (Chinese reading): ツイ, スイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 12 strokes

The story

Wood (木) beside a short-tailed bird (隹): picture a bird perched on a stack of wooden blocks, like the vertebrae of a spine. 椎 is a vertebra, as in 椎間板ヘルニア, a herniated disc, and also the shii tree that gave 椎茸, shiitake, their name.

Used in 脊椎 (sekitsui, spine), 椎間板 (tsuikanban, intervertebral disc), and 椎茸 (shiitake, shiitake mushroom)

椎 means “vertebra, shii tree”

The story

More from Inner Organs