Mnemonic
Your Older Brother has the biggest mouth in the family—always telling you what to do. If you dare ignore him, he charges at you on his legs, towering over you, mouth wide open, yelling until you obey. That's what older brothers do: all mouth and legs.
Additional thoughts
Picture the kanji as a wide-open yelling mouth (口) sitting on top of a pair of legs (儿). It literally looks like a person whose most prominent feature is their bossy mouth — the quintessential older brother standing tall and barking orders at you.Quick recall
Big mouth on legs — that's your Older Brother bossing you around.Details
The keyword for 兄 is older brother. This kanji refers specifically to an older brother, reflecting the importance of birth order and hierarchical family relationships in East Asian culture. It conveys a sense of seniority and respect within the sibling dynamic, and by extension it can also be used as a respectful term of address for older males who are not necessarily blood relatives.
- On'yomi
- けい、きょう
- Kun'yomi
- あに