~巻

~かん · ~kan · JLPT N2 · noun

volume

📜📚 巻 means to roll up: old books were scrolls, so each volume was one roll

On its own, 巻く (maku) means to roll or wind. Before bound books, a long text was split across several rolled scrolls, so ~巻 became the counter for volumes: 第一巻 = volume one.

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