竜

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The noun 竜, read りゅう, means a dragon, the mythical creature often represented as a great reptilian being.
• Basic usage: It may have blue wings in a picture book or appear as a golden figure on a festival decoration.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Mythical 竜 and biological 翼竜
  • 竜 means the mythical dragon shown in stories or decoration. A pterosaur is 翼竜; wings in an illustration do not make the two headwords synonymous.