Mnemonic
A dancer performs a breathtaking dive off the stage, plunging headfirst into a colossal mouth that has opened beneath her. The crowd watches in horror as the mouth clamps shut and swallows the dancer whole — gulped down in one bold, forceful motion, gone forever.
Additional thoughts
Picture the dancer (top radical) falling downward into the mouth (bottom radical). The kanji literally stacks dancer over mouth, visually showing someone being consumed from above.Quick recall
A dancer dives into a giant mouth that swallows her whole.Details
The keyword for 呑 is swallow. This kanji refers to the act of gulping something down whole, taking it into the throat without chewing. It carries a sense of consuming or engulfing something entirely, and can be used both literally for swallowing food or drink and figuratively for being overwhelmed or absorbed by something larger. It is an older or more literary variant compared to the more common character 飲, and often conveys a bold or forceful sense of intake.
- On'yomi
- とん、どん
- Kun'yomi
- の.む