殖

音読おんよみ: ショク

訓読くんよみ: ふえる・ふやす

画数かくすう: 12

部首ぶしゅ: がつへん（歹）

Meaning

Increase / Multiply / Prosper

  • 殖ふえる — to increase; to multiply
  • 殖ふやす — to increase; to add
  • 殖産しょくさん — promotion of industry
  • 繁殖はんしょく — breeding; reproduction
  • 増殖ぞうしょく — increase; proliferation
  • 養殖ようしょく — cultivation; aquaculture

The radical 歹 (がつへん, “remains/bones”) originally connects to decay or what is left behind. When combined with 直 (straight, direct), it shifts meaning toward what continues on — life that endures and increases rather than ends. That’s why 殖 carries meanings like increase, prosper, reproduce.

直

Link 殖 with 直 (straight/direct). Imagine growth that pushes forward directly, multiplying and spreading, almost as if life rises out of what was once ending. That mental hook helps you remember the meaning “to increase.”

繁
繁殖

繁殖はんしょく — breeding; reproduction; to multiply

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