音読み: エツ
訓読み: こす・こえる
画数: 12
部首: 辶（そうにょう）
Meaning
Cross / Go Over / Surpass / Exceed.
- 越える — to cross; to go over; to exceed
- 越す — to cross over; to move (to the other side)
- 越境 — border crossing
- 優越 — superiority; predominance
- 越冬 — to pass the winter; overwintering
- 越南 — Vietnam (older name)
越 combines the movement radical 辶（そうにょう） “go / proceed” with a phonetic that gives the reading エツ and the sense of “going beyond.” Together it means to cross a boundary, pass over, or surpass.
Pair 越 “go beyond” with 権 “authority,” and you get the feel of 越権 — overstepping one’s authority. Instinct hook: movement (辶) + authority (権) → going past the limit.
Forms
越冬 — to pass the winter