端

音読おんよみ: タン

訓読くんよみ: はし・はた・は

画数かくすう: 14

部首ぶしゅ: 立（たつ）

Meaning

Edge / End / Tip

  • 端はし — edge; end; tip; corner
  • 端はた — side; edge (in some dialects / set phrases)
  • 先端せんたん — the very tip; forefront
  • 両端りょうたん — both ends
  • 端的たんてき — direct; to the point
  • 極端きょくたん — extreme
  • 発端ほったん — the start; the trigger; the origin of something

The top part is 立（たつ） — “to stand.” The lower part shapes the sound (タン). Picture something standing upright at the very edge, right at the boundary. That’s 端: the end, the border, the outermost point where something begins or finishes.

発

発はつ / 発ほつ carries “to start; to launch.” In 発端ほったん, it literally means “the starting edge” — the very first point where a story or event begins. So 発端 is not just “the beginning,” it’s “the spark at the edge.”

的
Creates

端的たんてき — plain and direct; stated clearly.

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