# 由 — Reason

Frequency rank 268 / 2,608 in published Japanese.

Frequent enough that you will keep running into it once you read past headlines.

More common than 島 (Island), less common than 郎 (Guy).

- On’yomi: ゆう、ゆ
- Kun’yomi: よし
- Radical: 田 Field (Kangxi 102)
- Frequency path: Level III of XX

A stick is rammed straight down through the middle dike of the flooded field, and when the bent farmer wrenches it back out the whole paddy drains away after it, leeches strung along the wet end.

In words:

- 自由 じゆう — freedom
- 理由 りゆう — reason
- 経由 けいゆ — go by the way,via

[Study 由](https://app.kanjidrift.com/study?kanji=%E7%94%B1)

[← Rank 267: 郎 (Guy)](https://kanjidrift.com/frequency/郎.md) · [Rank 269: 島 (Island) →](https://kanjidrift.com/frequency/島.md)

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