敏感

びんかん · binkan · JLPT N1 · na-adj

sensitive

敏 — every 每 + tap/strike 攵
敏 combines 每 (every, originally a woman with hair ornament) with 攵 (a hand holding a stick, indicating action). The original sense suggested quick, diligent action — responding swiftly to every task. It came to mean 'quick, agile, sharp' in both physical and mental senses.

感 — heart 心 + 咸 (xián, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The heart radical 心 at the bottom carries the meaning of feeling or emotion, while 咸 supplies the sound. Together 感 conveys being moved in the heart, hence 'to feel,' 'sense,' or 'be affected by' something.

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