医 — how to write the kanji for “doctor”

医 (“doctor” and “medicine”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 437th most used kanji. KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 3 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts sit one inside another: 匸 (“hiding enclosure radical”, its radical), strokes 1 and 7; 矢 (“dart”), strokes 2–6, with their strokes interleaved. On its own it is the word i, “medicine; the healing art”. You will meet it in 医療 (“medical treatment”), 医学 (“medicine”) and 医師 (“doctor”). Chinese reads it yī, “medical”, at HSK 1.

Strokes

7

JLPT

N4

Radical

匸 (“hiding enclosure radical”)

On

イ

Kun

い·やす, い·する, くすし