哲学
てつがく · tetsugaku · JLPT N3 · noun
doctrine
🦉📚 哲学 = wisdom + study: the study of wisdom
Nishi Amane coined it in the Meiji era as 希哲学, seeking wisdom, a loan-translation of philo-sophia, love of wisdom. It was later shortened to 哲学. 哲 is 折 break apart + 口 mouth: taking ideas apart with words.
学 — hands 𦥑 + roof 冖 + child 子
Originally 學, depicting two hands manipulating something (often interpreted as counting rods or the 爻 trigram symbols) under a roof, with a child 子 below — a child learning under instruction. The simplified form 学 replaces the top with a stylized 龸. Core meaning has always been 'to study, learn'.