kanji-a-day:1247/2000JLPT: N1School Grade: Junior high schoolThis character is a combination of
kanji-a-day:1247/2000JLPT: N1School Grade: Junior high schoolThis character is a combination of 而 and yet/but/however and 寸 measure/hand. 而 itself developed from the image of a beard, and here is being used to express that meaning. 寸 here means “careful use of the hand.” 耐 is a pictograph that referred to “shaving off a beard,” which was a minor punishment (the next level up was shaving the hair). This in turn symbolized something that was “not too bad” and “bearable.” -- source link