縁
えん · en · JLPT N3 · noun
opportunity
🧵 縁 has 糸 (thread) on the left: the thread that ties people by chance
The 糸 thread radical marks ties and bonds. In Japanese folklore, a red thread of fate (赤い糸) connects people who are meant to meet. ご縁 is that kind of fated connection. Sound hook: en, like the END of a thread that links two people.
ふち · fuchi · JLPT N3 · noun
edge
🧵 糸 thread radical: 縁 was first the sewn hem of cloth, its edge
The thread radical 糸 marks 縁 as a textile word: it first meant the stitched border of a garment. From hem it spread to any rim or edge, as in 眼鏡の縁, the rims of glasses. Read en, the same kanji means a bond or fate that ties people together.
へり · heri · JLPT N1 · noun
edge