灰 - ASHES in the Stove

Readings & Meanings:

カイ

はい

ashes

Common Usage:

灰色

石灰

灰

Examples:

灰色はねずみ色ともいう。

石灰でドッジボールの線を引く。

火山が噴火したのであたりが灰だらけになった。

Translations:

The color gray (灰色) can also be called mouse-colored (ネズミ色).

We drew the line for the dodgeball game with lime.

Because of the volcano eruption, the surrounding area became full of ash.

Radical:

Radical is 火. It's stuck in a roof-like element that is actually 又, the hand that indicates action. It originally indicated what you take out of a firepit (after the fire is gone).

Well, when I said the roof was 又, I was referring to the archaeological evidence from before 206 BC. After that, the hand was turned into a stove-like shape in 厂.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/ka.htm