Steps

On’yomi: だん
Kun’yomi: —
Radical: 殳 Weapon (Kangxi 79)

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

More common than 球 (Sphere), less common than 火 (Fire).

A cliff on the left has a weapon leaning against it on the right -- carved into the cliff face are steps, each marked by a weapon driven into the stone.

In words

段だん step,stair,flight of steps,grade,rank,levelN3

段々だんだん gradually;by degreesN1

階段かいだん stairsN5

段 is rank 419 of 2,608 in published Japanese.

Study 段 →