Is there any difference among 思, 考 and 侖?

Question

According to List of jōyō kanji and jisho.org 思, 考 and 侖 mean think. Is there any difference in meaning and usage in them?

Answer 1

According to List of joyo kanji and jisho.org 思 , 考 and 侖 mean think. Is there any difference in meaning and usage in them?

We don't use each character alone. We say 思{おも}う to mean think or think of and 考{かんが}える to mean intentionally think about something.

The two together make a noun, 思考｛しこう｝, which means 'thought.' Also each character creates many words combined with other characters.

We don't use 侖 except as a part of some kanji characters, and so I have no idea what it is. For the proof, デジタル大辞泉 doesn't have any entry for it, and neither does my printed kanji dictionary.

Answer 2

思

This is think as in believe. For example:

I think she is mad.

彼女は怒っていると思う。

This kind of think isn't a pondering type of thought, it's spur of the moment thinking.

---

考

This is a kind of thinking where you take time. It's what you do when you do homework, or try to work it out in your mind. For example:

Hold on, I'm thinking about it.

ちょっとまって、考えています。

---

侖

I know nothing about this character. Jisho.org does not have any words using this character. My suspicion is that it's used for names more than it is used for anything else. You'll likely never see this in daily usage.

Answer 3

思と考の違い。Difference between 思 and 考

他{た}の人｛ひと｝の回答｛かいとう｝でほぼすべて説明｛せつめい｝は尽｛つ｝くされていますが、一｛ひと｝つだけ不足｛ふそく｝している情報｛じょうほう｝を足｛た｝します。 Almost all explanations were given in answers by other people, but I'll add a missing information.

「思」と「考」の本質的｛ほんしつてき｝な違｛ちが｝いはどこで think するかだと思｛おも｝います。
I think that the essential difference between "思" and "考" is the place where you think something.

To get straight to the point, "思" thinks "with emotion", while "考" thinks "in the brain"*.

「思う」は「心{こころ}で思う」、「考える」は「頭｛あたま｝で考える」と言います。
"思｛おも｝う to think" is used in "心｛こころ｝で思｛おも｝う lit. to think with the heart or to think with mind", while "考｛かんが｝える to think" is used in "頭｛あたま｝で考｛かんが｝える lit. to think with the head or to think with the brain".

人間の「思考｛しこう｝」は心臓｛しんぞう｝ではなく、脳｛のう｝の機能｛きのう｝ですから科学的｛かがくてき｝にはいずれも「頭で思う」と「頭で考える」と言うのが正｛ただ｝しいのでしょう。しかし、日本語では、「心｛こころ｝で思う」と言い「頭で思う」あるいは「脳で思う」と言いません。逆に、「心で考える」とも余｛あま｝り言いません。
Human "thinking" is not the function of the heart but that of the brain, therefor it is scientifically correct to say "頭で思う" instead of saying "心で思う".

「心｛こころ｝」は、感情｛かんじょう｝の動｛うご｝きに伴｛ともな｝って心臓｛しんぞう｝の鼓動｛こどう｝が変化｛へんか｝します。すなわち、「心」は「感情」の存在｛そんざい｝する場所｛ばしょ｝と考｛かんが｝えられています。一方、「頭」あるいは「脳」は「知識｛ちしき｝」あるいは「知性｛ちせい｝」の存在する場所です。
As for the "heart" of a person, the beating of the heart changes as the emotion fluctuates. In other words, "heart" is considered to be the place where "emotion" exists. On the other hand, "head" or "brain" is the place where "knowledge" or "intelligence" exists.

侖{ろん}

Normal Japanese may have seen this character, but they don't know the correct reading and its meaning, because this character is not Jōyō kanji.

Among kanjis having the meaning of "to think", 侖 has a profound meaning.
The physical etymology of this kanji is the ligature of "ヘ ", which is the original character of "集" representing "collection" and "冊" representing "book". The etymological meaning of 侖 is "to think the right way of life or the righteous path of humanity according to the Scriptures of Buddhism 経典に照らして人の道を考える".

According to a Chinese dictionary 侖 means 条理 reason，秩序 order, well-ordered state，筋道 reason, logic, method，順序 order; sequence; procedure​．

You can see the shape of 侖 in "倫理 ethics", "論理 logic", "輪廻｛りんね｝ reincarnation" or "五輪 the (five‐ring) Olympic emblem".

Since 侖 is not listed as Jinmeiyō kanji (人名用漢字, lit. Chinese characters for use in personal names), you can't use it now as a character in the name to register.