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Divining

On’yomiぼく
Kun’yomiうらな.う・うらない
MeaningsDivining, Fortune-telling, Divination Or Katakana To Radical (no. 25)
2 strokes Name kanji Radical divination
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 卜

Stroke order is not decoration — it determines how the character looks handwritten and how dictionaries index it.

2 strokes
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部首 · Radical

The radical of 卜

Radical 25 of 214
Divination

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 卜 is filed under (divination) — radical number 25 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 卜

練習 · Practice

Drill 卜 right now

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Divining ぼく うらな.う・うらない
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 卜

Kanji are almost never met alone. These are the most common words built from this character, ordered by how often they actually appear in Japanese.

卜い うらない fortune-telling; divination; fortune-teller
卜う うらなう to tell someone's fortune; to divine (the future); to predict
卜者 ボクシャ fortune teller, soothsayer, diviner
卜定 ボクジョー deciding through (tortoise-shell) divination
売卜 バイボク fortunetelling (as an occupation)
卜術 ボクジュツ fortune-telling, divination
占卜 センボク divination, fortunetelling, soothsaying
卜占 ボクセン fortune-telling, divination, augury
卜居 ボッキョ choosing a homesite by divination
卜骨 ボッコツ fortune-telling using animal bones
名乗り · Name readings

How 卜 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 卜's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

うら
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 卜

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 卜 — learn them together, not separately.

画数 · 2 strokes

Other 2-stroke kanji

Useful when looking a character up by stroke count — and a common source of visual mix-ups.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 卜

What does the kanji 卜 mean?

卜 means Divining, Fortune-telling, Divination Or Katakana To Radical (no. 25).

How do you read the kanji 卜?

卜 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) ぼく; kun'yomi (native Japanese) うらな.う、うらない.

How many strokes does 卜 have?

卜 is written with 2 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 卜?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in name kanji.

What is the radical of 卜?

The radical of 卜 is 卜 (divination), radical number 25 of the 214 Kangxi radicals. The radical is the component a dictionary files the character under, and it usually points at the character's meaning.

What words use the kanji 卜?

Common words written with 卜 include 卜い (うらない, fortune-telling; divination; fortune-teller); 卜う (うらなう, to tell someone's fortune; to divine (the future); to predict); 卜者 (ボクシャ, fortune teller, soothsayer, diviner).

Which kanji sound the same as 卜?

卜 shares a reading with 目 (ぼく), 木 (ぼく), 僕 (ぼく), 撲 (ぼく), 黙 (ぼく), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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