入口
いりぐち · iriguchi · JLPT N5 · noun
entrance
🚪 入口 = enter (入) + mouth (口): the mouth you enter through
入 (iri) means enter and 口 (kuchi, voiced to guchi) means mouth or opening. Its opposite is 出口 (deguchi) = exit + mouth. Same kanji as Chinese 入口 (rùkǒu), same meaning.
入 — single pictograph, two slanting strokes
入 is a pictograph showing an arrowhead or pointed entrance, with two strokes converging downward to suggest something going inward. The original sense was 'to enter,' and it still carries that meaning today. It contrasts visually with 人 (person), where the strokes cross differently at the top.
口 — pictograph of an open mouth
口 is one of the oldest pictographs in Chinese, originally drawn as a simple outline of an open mouth. Its core meaning 'mouth' extended naturally to 'opening' or 'entrance', as in 入口 (entrance). It also serves as a common radical in characters related to speech, eating, or apertures.