Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
Historical forms are not available yet. The current form is shown as a reference.
The kanji 顕 is a phono-semantic compound character, formed during the Shuowen Jiezi era (c. 100 AD). Its structure consists of two primary components. On the left is the semantic component 頁, which depicts a kneeling figure with an emphasized head, meaning "head" or "page." On the right is the phonetic component 㬎, which itself is a compound meaning "silk" (糸) over "sun" (日), suggesting silk made visible or illuminated by sunlight. The original meaning of 㬎 was "apparent" or "manifest," and 頁 adds the nuance of something being apparent to the head/mind or visibly prominent. Thus, the combined form 顕 carries the core meaning of "to appear," "to be manifest," or "to be eminent." Historically, the character evolved from its seal script form in ancient China. The modern Japanese form 顕 is a shinjitai (new character form), which is a simplified version of the traditional kyūjitai (old character form) 顯. The kyūjitai more clearly shows the original components of 頁 and 㬎. This simplification process standardized the character for modern use, but the core structural elements remain identifiable. The character arrived in Japan around the 5th to 6th centuries AD, imported alongside the Chinese writing system, Buddhist scriptures, and Confucian classics via the Korean peninsula. An interesting linguistic note is the relationship between 顕 and its phonetic component 㬎. While 㬎 is now obsolete as an independent character, its sound and meaning are preserved within 顕. The on'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading) of 顕 is "KEN," which derives from the historical Chinese pronunciation of the 㬎 component. This character is often used in formal or literary contexts and appears in compounds like 顕著 (kencho - conspicuous, remarkable) and 顕微鏡 (kenbikyou - microscope, literally "manifest-tiny-mirror"). It can also be found in names and Buddhist terms, reflecting its enduring association with making the invisible visible or bringing importance to light.