頼

音読おんよみ: ライ

訓読くんよみ: たのむ・たのもしい・たよる

画数かくすう: 16

部首ぶしゅ: 頁（おおがい）

Meaning

Rely on / Trust / Request

  • 頼たのむ — to request; to ask a favor
  • 頼たよる — to rely on; to depend on
  • 頼たのもしい — reliable; reassuring
  • 信頼しんらい — trust; reliance
  • 依頼いらい — request; commission

Think of 頼 as “placing your head (頁) on it” — you entrust yourself and ask for help. It covers both the feeling of trust (信しん) and the act of making a request (依頼いらい).

信

First comes 信 — the trust you feel. When you turn that trust into action — asking or relying — it becomes 頼.

So in real life: 信（trust） → 頼（to rely / to request）. That’s why pairs like 信頼しんらい feel so natural.

依頼
Creates
依頼いらい — a request; commission
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