音読み: キ
訓読み: いのる
画数: 8
部首: しめすへん（礻）
Meaning
Pray / wish.
- 祈る — to pray; to wish
- 祈願 — prayer; petition
- 祈念 — prayer; wish
- 祈年 — yearly prayers (for harvest)
The radical しめすへん（礻） means altar or divine sign. Combined with the phonetic component (斤), it conveys the act of offering prayers or making wishes to the gods. That’s why 祈 means “to pray” or “to wish.”
Think of 祈 as linking “altar” with the heart’s thought (念). Praying is wishing deeply with sincerity — that’s 祈念, a heartfelt prayer or wish.
Creates
祈願 — prayer; supplication (commonly used in religious contexts).