eggplant
茄 centers on the eggplant, a specific plant. The meaning is concrete and narrow, referring to the vegetable itself.
茄 combines the grass radical 艹 with 加, which likely provides the sound カ. The character was used in Chinese for the eggplant, and the modern form preserves this phono-semantic structure.
The grass radical 艹 on top suggests a plant, and 加 below looks like a mouth 口 and strength 力. Imagine a strong-tasting plant that makes your mouth work: an eggplant.
For カ, picture a car (カ) made of eggplants: the car is shaped like an eggplant and runs on eggplant fuel. Car -> カ.
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eggplant (Solanum melongena); aubergine
rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa); Japanese rose; Ramanas rose
best is Fuji, second is a hawk, third is an eggplant (of auspicious things to see in a dream, esp. one's first dream of the year)
squash; pumpkin
small eggplant
Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense)
slow-witted person; dimwit; halfwit
var. of eggplant (Solanum melongena) which can be eaten raw
nipplefruit (Solanum mammosum); apple of Sodom; titty fruit; cow's udder
like begets like; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; eggplants don't grow on gourd vines
autumn eggplant; eggplant picked in the autumn
don't feed autumn eggplant to your wife (because they're too delicious, because they'll give her the chills, or because their lack of seeds will reduce her fertility)
dusky purple; dark purple; eggplant color
tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
always listen to your parents; always value your parents' advice; not even one in a thousand of a parents' opinion or an eggplant flower are in vain
nipplefruit (Solanum mammosum); apple of Sodom; titty fruit; cow's udder
Kamo eggplant (Solanum melongena; round variety originally grown in Kyoto)
Chinese scarlet eggplant (Solanum integrifolium); tomato-fruit eggplant
nipplefruit (Solanum mammosum); apple of Sodom; titty fruit; cow's udder
mabo nasu; fried eggplant with Chinese chili sauce