音読み: ト
訓読み: わたる・わたす
画数: 12
部首: 氵（さんずい）
Meaning
Cross / Go Across / Hand Over.
- 渡る — to cross; to go across
- 渡す — to hand over; to pass across
- 渡航 — voyage; traveling overseas
- 過渡期 — transitional period
- 渡り鳥 — migratory bird
- 渡辺 — Watanabe (surname)
渡 combines 氵 “water” with the phonetic 度 (ド/ト, “degree, measure”). The image is of crossing a body of water — hence “to cross” or “to hand over.”
Think of the phrase 過渡期 — a “transitional period.” 過 means to pass, to go beyond; 渡 means to cross over. Together, they picture moving through change — crossing from one stage to the next.
Voyage
渡航 — voyage; travel overseas