惑星間 (wakuseikan: interplanetary) planet (1st 2 chars.) + between
The second character, 星 (SEI, hoshi), means “star,” so that’s clear enough. But the first kanji, 惑 (WAKU, mado(u)), is an oddball that means “to beguile, delusion, perplexity.” What’s that doing here?! Well, it may help to be really clear about “beguile,” which isn’t a word English speakers use too often. According to Dictionary.com, “beguile” has four meanings:
1. to influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.
2. to take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually fol. by of): to be beguiled of money.
3. to charm or divert: a multitude of attractions to beguile the tourist.
4. to pass (time) pleasantly: beguiling the long afternoon with a good book.Hmm, “delude” appears in the first definition, just as “delusion” shows up in the definition of 惑. But the third definition alludes to attractions of the heart, just as the 心 (kokoro: heart) shape at the base of 惑 hints that deep feelings may play a part in this character’s meaning. (A Japanese friend told me that that’s a handy rule of thumb.)
So perhaps stars beguiled the creators of this kanji, in the sense that those winking lights in the sky both confused (deluded) and charmed them.
Or here’s another take. Maybe early astronomers considered planets to be confused stars!
