Blades, wood & beasts
Tap an example word to hear it pronounced.
On'yomi & Kun'yomi
On'yomi (音読み) is the reading borrowed from Chinese, usually used in compound words, e.g. 三月 (さんがつ, March).
Kun'yomi (訓読み) is the native Japanese reading, used when the kanji stands alone or takes kana endings, e.g. 三つ (みっつ, three items).
By convention the readings list writes on'yomi in katakana (シュ) and kun'yomi in hiragana (さけ). Example words show furigana in hiragana, so the same on'yomi can look like シュ in the list but しゅ in a word.
What the component colors mean
Blue - the main radical the kanji is filed under in dictionaries.
Green - a component that hints at the meaning.
Orange - a component that hints at the reading (sound).
Grey - another building block, with no clear meaning or sound role.
robust, vigorous
adamant, diamond
integrity, uprightness
surplus, remainder
excess, surplus
surplus, excess
cutlery, edged tool
naked blade
murderous blade
dissection, autopsy
anatomy
anatomical chart
hospital ward
separate building
roof-raising ceremony
simple, naive
unsophisticated, naive
blunt and taciturn
senryu (comic haiku)
geisha district
slender waist
framework, structure
window frame
separate quota/category
cat and dog (bad relations)
ape-man, hominid
mindless imitation
pet cat
kitten
stoop, hunched back
Practice
Test yourself on this lesson's kanji.