限る
かぎる · kagiru · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to limit
🔑🚧 kagiru starts like kagi (鍵, key): a key limits who gets in
限 (gen, limit) pairs the mound radical 阝 with 艮, a boundary that halts you. A common saying: 夏はビールに限る, nothing beats beer in summer. The choice is limited to just that one thing.
限 — mound radical 阝 + 艮 (phonetic)
限 combines the 阝 (mound/hill) radical on the left with 艮 on the right, which provides the sound. The mound element suggests a boundary or barrier formed by terrain, and the character came to mean 'limit' or 'boundary' — the edge one cannot cross.