# 恩 kindness

因 (origin) + (bottomheart)
★★☆☆☆
10 strokes

## Onyomi

ON |

## Mnemonic

| The origin of kindness is ON the heart.

## Kunyomi

おん | gratitude. Unlike the related words 恩恵　（おんけい） and 義理 (ぎり）, 恩 means that you really WANT to do something nice, to give back to the person you're grateful to. Also, unlike 義理、恩 doesn't imply that you owe them a specific favor. Often, 恩 is used like, "Everyone else gave up on me, told me I was a juvenile delinquent, that I'd amount to nothing. That teacher was the only one who believed in me, who kept encouraging me no matter how many times I fucked up. とても恩がある。" ★★☆☆☆

## Jukugo

恩恵(おんけい) | favor ★☆☆☆☆ 恩 (kindness) + 恵 (do a favor) = 恩恵 (favor) favor. Unlike the very personal "恩", giving and receiving 恩恵 is a more businesslike form of gratitude: 恩恵を受ける means "to recieve a favor." A sort of I'll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine practicality.
恩知らず(おんしらず) | ingrate ☆☆☆☆☆ 恩 (kindness) + 知 (know) = 恩知らず (ingrate) ｉｎｇｒａｔｅ (literally, 'unaware of gratitude.')

## Lookalikes

| Meaning | Hint | Radical
--- | --- | --- | ---
恵 | do a favor | TNT plunger |
恩 | kindness | ORIGINATES | 因
志 | intention, volition | SAMURAI | 士

You do a favor to Wile E. Coyote by giving him a TNT PLUNGER,
But kindness ORIGINATES in the heart.
She has the intention of becoming a SAMURAI.

| Meaning | Hint | Radical
--- | --- | --- | ---
恩 | kindness | BIG | 大
恵 | do a favor | TEN | 十

Do me a BIG favor, and bless me with TEN sabres.

## Synonyms

gratitude, obligation 感謝 恩 恩恵 義理 義務