順繰り (junguri: in turn; order) order + to turn
Now, 繰 is a funny-looking assortment of components: thread (糸), a thing or article (品), and a tree (木). What’s it all about? And how do they combine to mean this:
繰 (ku(ru): winding; reel; to spin; turn (pages); look up)
Henshall says this character is of disputed etymology. The 糸 is definitely “thread.” The right-hand side means “birds in a tree” and might symbolize either “gathering” or “dark blue”! Hmm, no small difference there. Somehow Henshall then makes a leap, concluding that in an older version, the whole kanji with its previous shape meant “to gather threads” and by association “to reel” or “to turn.” From there, scholars have done further hemming and hawing, but I think we’re too busy to worry about their hair-splitting.
Though I’d forgotten, we’ve encountered this character twice before:
1. Sample Sentences with 騒動, where this kanji popped up in 繰り返 (kurikae(su): to repeat, to do something over again) to perform an action repeatedly + to redo
2. The Funny Little Kanji 々, where we talked about 々. One of its two names is as follows:
繰り返し符号 (kurikaeshi fugō: repetition sign) to perform an action repeatedly + to redo + symbol + symbol
