Doubled and tripled kanji

Question

I like looking for kanji with a high 画数, and I have found that they largely coincide with kanji that consist of 2 or 3 copies of another kanji (often

Examples:

• 龍 -> 龖(x2), 龘(x3)
• 馬 -> 驫(x3)
• 車 -> 轟(x3)
• 鹿 -> 麤(x3)
• 田 -> 畾(x3)

Some of these are a bit obscure/uncommon in terms of their actual usage in Japanese, but I was wondering whether there was any kind of term used to describe such characters.

Answer 1

Yes, the term for this type of kanji is 理義字.

理義字

理義字（りぎじ）は、同じ漢字を2つ、ないし、3つ組み合わせて構成される漢字のこと。また、広く、形態が奇妙な漢字や、面白い形をした漢字のことを指す。

Although it's on Wikipedia, 理義字 is a very rare word, and the authenticity of this word is questioned (see this and this). And the article says that 理義字 in its narrowest sense only include kanji with two or three copies of the same kanji, not four or more.

This page uses 繰返字, although it's unsourced. The same page says:

このような漢字を、中国では「二畳字」「三畳字」或いは「二字畳」「三字畳」等と呼ぶようですが、必ずしも一般的ではないようで、日本と同様に総じての呼称はないようです。

Answer 2

I'm not sure what the term for this type of kanji is, but it is not 理義字.

For one thing, the term itself is obscure (in its origin) and opaque (in its formation); further, the relevant section in the work 『四民童子字尽安見』 that is indeed titled 理義字集 does not only list characters like 磊森孖, it also lists other 'special' or 'interesting' characters such as 凹凸丫兕亞𠙴. To insist that '理義字 in its narrowest sense only include(s) kanji with two or three copies of the same kanji, not four or more' is of dubious value in this light.

The book 『四民童子字尽安見』 can be seen and downloaded as http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/ho02/ho02_00916/index.html; a discussion of the term 理義字 is at http://blog.livedoor.jp/itomata/archives/3733756.html.