徳 means “virtue, goodness”

とく · toku

Also: benevolence, commanding respect

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

トク

JLPT N1 · Taught in grade 4 · 14 strokes

The story

A step (彳) beside a heart (心) under 十 and a sideways eye (罒), pieces of 直, straight: walking through life with a straight heart. 徳 is virtue: 道徳 is the morals class every Japanese schoolchild takes, and the 徳川 shoguns bore it in their name.

Used in 道徳 (doutoku, morality), 美徳 (bitoku, virtue), and 人徳 (jintoku, natural goodness)

More from Loyalty & Duty

• 忠 loyalty
• 誠 sincerity
• 倫 ethics
• 仁 benevolence
• 貞 chastity
• 慈 mercy
• 衷 innermost feelings
• 義 righteousness
• 善 good
• 孝 filial piety

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