抱く
いだく · idaku · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to embrace
🤗 抱 = hand 扌 + wrap 包: wrapping with your arms is an embrace
Idaku is the literary reading of 抱く; in everyday speech it is usually read daku. Beyond a physical hug, it means holding a feeling: 夢を抱く is to cherish a dream, and 疑いを抱く is to harbor a doubt.
抱 — hand radical 扌 + wrap 包
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning, indicating an action done with the hands, while 包 ('wrap, bundle') supplies the sound 'bāo/bào' and hints at enclosing. Together they depict wrapping something in the arms — to hold, embrace, or carry.
だく · daku · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to embrace
🧸 抱 = 扌 hand + 包 wrap: wrapping someone with your hands is a hug
The kanji 抱 joins the hand radical 扌 with 包, meaning to wrap or bundle up. Arms that wrap around someone make an embrace. For the sound, だく is close to dock: you dock someone against your chest.
抱 — hand radical 扌 + wrap 包
A semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning, indicating an action done with the hands, while 包 ('wrap, bundle') supplies the sound 'bāo/bào' and hints at enclosing. Together they depict wrapping something in the arms — to hold, embrace, or carry.