sail

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 帆 means a sail; its kun-reading is ほ and its on-reading is はん.
• Basic usage: 帆(ほ) means a sail, while 帆船(はんせん) means a sailing ship.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• A sail and a sailing ship
  • 帆を張った means set the sail, while 帆を上げた means raised the sail. Both describe handling a boat's sail.
  • 帆船の模型 means a model of a sailing ship. 帆 names the sail as one part of the vessel, whereas 帆船 names the ship that sails under it.