利根
りこん
natural cleverness; intelligence
By Nihongo PathUpdated
Examples
彼は利根な子だと評判だ。
かれはりこんなこだとひょうばんだ。
He has a reputation as a quick-witted child.
生まれつき利根で、何を教えてもすぐ覚える。
うまれつきりこんで、なにをおしえてもすぐおぼえる。
She is bright by nature and picks up anything you teach her.
利根と努力の両方を備えた人は少ない。
りこんとどりょくのりょうほうをそなえたひとはすくない。
Few people have both natural ability and diligence.
Common patterns
- 利根な子
- a bright child
- 生まれつき利根
- clever by birth
- 利根に恵まれる
- to be blessed with quick wits
Memory tip
An old, bookish word: 利 (sharp) + 根 (innate faculty, originally a Buddhist term) — brains you were born with. Two traps: the same characters read とね are the Tone River, and the reading りこん is far more often 離婚 'divorce'.
Kanji in this word
Quick check
1 / 2Multiple choiceDifficulty 4 of 5
What does 利根 mean?