Emaki · all 1,500 words

偶然

ぐうぜん

chance, accident

Mnemonic

Two people with no arrangement whatever to meet, in one street at one minute. A goose ぐう and a Zen ぜん monk, both equally surprised: ぐうぜん.

Worth knowing

機会 きかい is a chance you could take. 偶然 is a coincidence that simply happened to you.

Built from

by chance, pair
亻 a person on the left with a creature beside them they had no expectation of meeting. Happening to run into a thing.
so, thus
月 flesh + 犬 dog + 灬 fire

Words sharing these kanji

(not) at all natural, as a matter of course abruptly, suddenly nature

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Emaki is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Kaishi 1.5k or its authors. The word, reading and meaning come from the Kaishi 1.5k deck, used with their permission. The mnemonic, the note and the kanji breakdown are original work, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.