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According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunoichi), one theory
for the etymology of くノ一 (female ninja) is that it's made up of the
[strokes](http://tomoegozen.free.fr/bujinkan-tomoegozen-kunoichi.html) of the
kanji 女 (woman).

Other theories include that it means nine and one, talking about the number of
[orifices](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%8F%E3%83%8E%E4%B8%80) men and
women have, and yet another is that the term くノ一 is apocryphal. Finally, [this
page](http://villages.likenaruto.com/space.php?uid=69&do=blog&id=284) suggests
that くノ一 might be "real", but is just a code word used by ninjas to mean
woman, rather than meaning female ninja.

Are there any other words, historical or present, where the characters are
made up of strokes of a kanji, along the lines of the 女 etymology theory for
くノ一?
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2012-01-22T08:10:43.700
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kanji etymology
Words made from strokes of a kanji like 女 toくノ一
ロハ. This word is colloquial and I think mostly extinct now, but it means "free
[as in beer]" and derives from the kanji 只, which is one way to write the word
ただ, which means (among other things) "free".
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2012-01-23T07:18:03.553
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This is a slight divergence from what you're asking (a phrase that's a
reference to a kanji rather than breaking up a single kanji into strokes), but
I think another interesting word is 「川{かわ}の字{じ}」, a word to describe the state
where three people are sleeping side by side (typically, where two parents are
sleeping with their child between them). I think this word is even less common
than ロハ though.
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2012-01-23T16:24:24.810
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Have you heard the saying 女三人寄れば姦しい (three women together make a terrible
racket)?

The kanji for the word 姦【かしま】しい (noisy) is made up of three women...
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2013-01-24T13:48:28.753
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> Are there any other words, historical or present, where the characters are
> made up of strokes of a kanji, along the lines of the 女 etymology theory for
> くノ一?

An example from present-day usage is
[タヒる](http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E3%82%BF%E3%83%92%E3%82%8B) from 死ぬ.
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