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How did the character for "leather" - [革]{かわ ／ カク} - come to also convey the
meaning for "newness"? 広辞苑 lists one of the definitions (under かく) as
`あらたまること, あらためること`, and we can see this in some of its associated 熟語: 変革, 改革,
革新. Anyone know how this came to be?
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2011-06-22T19:21:01.823
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2014-02-05T20:22:55.617
2014-02-05T20:22:55.617
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kanji etymology meaning
How did 革 "leather" come to mean newness?
The source for this dual meaning already exists in Chinese. 革 is originally a
pictograph of a stretched hide that is turned into leather. As a noun it meant
just "leather", but as a verb it also meant "stretching something flabby and
making it taut", which then was extended figuratively into "making something
old new" and from there "renewal". Thus came all the meanings in compounds
such as 革新, 改革 and 革命.

See e.g. **広辞苑** :

> 解字![kaku](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ppiYZ.png)象形｡
> 動物の全身の皮をはぎ､さらしてぴんと広げた形｡たるんだものをぴんと張る意から､あらためる意に用いる。

You can also find a similar explanation online in Gogen-Allguide:  
<http://gogen-allguide.com/ka/kawa_hi.html>
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2011-06-22T22:27:01.317
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2011-06-22T22:52:29.920
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answer