人柄

ひとがら · hitogara · JLPT N1 · na-adj

personality

人 (person) + 柄 (pattern, grain) = a person's inner pattern = personality

柄 originally means the grain of wood, the part that shows a thing's inherent character. So 人柄 is a person's grain: the character that shows through over time.

人 — pictograph of a standing person
人 is a pictograph showing a person viewed from the side, with two strokes representing the legs and torso of a standing human. In oracle bone script it clearly depicted a figure leaning slightly forward. The meaning has remained 'person' or 'human' throughout its history.

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