Jisho

×

元

4 strokes
Radical:
legs 儿
Parts:
二 儿 元
beginning, former time, origin
Kun:
もと
On:
ゲン、 ガン
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 2
JLPT level N4
192 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 元 【ゲン】 unknown (e.g. in an equation), element (of a set), yuan (monetary unit of China), New Taiwan dollar, Yuan dynasty (of China; 1271-1368), Yüan dynasty, Mongol dynasty
  • 原価 【ゲンカ】 cost price
  • 中元 【チュウゲン】 15th day of the 7th lunar month, (last day of) Bon lantern festival, mid-year gift, summer gift, Bon Festival gifts
  • 抗原 【コウゲン】 antigen
  • 元祖 【ガンソ】 originator, pioneer, inventor, founder, progenitor, primogenitor, founder of a family line
  • 元日 【ガンジツ】 New Year's Day

Kun reading compounds

  • 元 【もと】 origin, source, beginning, basis, base, foundation, root, cause, (raw) material, ingredient, base, mix (e.g. for a cake), (soup) stock, (one's) side, capital, principal, cost price, root (of a plant), (tree) trunk, part (of a brush, chopsticks, etc.) one holds (with the hand), first three lines of a waka, counter for plants or trees, counter for falcons (in falconry)
  • 元 【もと】 former, ex-, past, one-time, earlier times, the past, previous state, formerly, previously, originally, before
  • 家元 【いえもと】 head of a school (of music, dance), head family of a school
  • 胸元 【むなもと】 breast, chest, pit of the stomach, solar plexus, epigastrium

Readings

Japanese names:
ちか、 はじめ、 はる、 ゆき、 よし
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
yuan2
Korean:
weon

Spanish

  • comienzo
  • principio
  • origen
  • jefe

Portuguese

  • começo
  • tempo anterior
  • origem

French

  • commencement
  • origine
  • ancien temps
68 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
117 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
106 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
328 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
275 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
106 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
121 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
60 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
2.10 Japanese for Busy People
137 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
137 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
245 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
141 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2428 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1226 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1690 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
59 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
1340 Morohashi
1929 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
343 New Nelson (John Haig)
59 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
63 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
408 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
89 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
3057 2001 Kanji
0a4.5 The Kanji Dictionary
2-1-3 SKIP code
1021.1 Four corner code
1-24-21 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
5143 Unicode hex code

代

5 strokes
Radical:
man, human 人 (亻)
Parts:
化 弋
substitute, change, convert, replace, period, age, counter for decades of ages, eras, etc., generation, charge, rate, fee
Kun:
か.わる、 かわ.る、 かわ.り、 か.わり、 -がわ.り、 -が.わり、 か.える、 よ、 しろ
On:
ダイ、 タイ
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3
JLPT level N4
66 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 代 【ダイ】 charge, cost, price, generation, age, (school) year, cohort, reign, era, a representative of, on behalf of, for (someone), switchboard number, counter for decades of ages, eras, etc., counter for generations (of inheritors to a throne, etc.), proxy application company, pronoun
  • 代官 【ダイカン】 local governor (Edo period), local magistrate, bailiff, deputy official (Middle Ages), acting administrator
  • 大時代 【オオジダイ】 old-fashioned, antiquated, anachronistic
  • 次代 【ジダイ】 the next era
  • 代謝 【タイシャ】 metabolism, renewal, regeneration, replacing the old with the new
  • 代赭 【タイシャ】 red ocher (ochre)
  • 永代 【エイタイ】 permanence, eternity
  • 希代 【キタイ】 uncommon, rare, extraordinary, matchless

Kun reading compounds

  • 替わる 【かわる】 to succeed, to relieve, to replace, to take the place of, to substitute for, to take over for, to represent, to hand over (telephone), to be exchanged, to change (places with), to switch
  • 代わる代わる 【かわるがわる】 alternately, by turns
  • 替わる 【かわる】 to succeed, to relieve, to replace, to take the place of, to substitute for, to take over for, to represent, to hand over (telephone), to be exchanged, to change (places with), to switch
  • 代わる代わる 【かわるがわる】 alternately, by turns
  • 代わり 【かわり】 substitute, replacement, substituting, replacing, stand-in, proxy, alternate, deputy, relief, successor, compensation, exchange, return, another helping, second helping, seconds, refill, upcoming program, upcoming programme
  • 変わり目 【かわりめ】 turning point, change, transition, turn (of the tide, century, etc.), point of difference
  • 代わり 【かわり】 substitute, replacement, substituting, replacing, stand-in, proxy, alternate, deputy, relief, successor, compensation, exchange, return, another helping, second helping, seconds, refill, upcoming program, upcoming programme
  • 変わり目 【かわりめ】 turning point, change, transition, turn (of the tide, century, etc.), point of difference
  • 替える 【かえる】 to replace, to convert, to change, to exchange, to interchange, to renew, to substitute (person, staff member, player, etc.)
  • 世 【よ】 world, society, public, life, lifetime, age, era, period, epoch, generation, reign, rule, the times, world (of existence)
  • 代々 【よよ】 for generations, from generation to generation, generation after generation, through the ages
  • 千代 【ちよ】 thousand years, very long period, forever
  • 君が代 【きみがよ】 Imperial reign, Kimigayo (Japanese national anthem)
  • 代 【しろ】 substitution, material, price, margin (e.g. for stapling, etc.), area required for something, shiro (unit of land area equal to one-fiftieth of a tan; approx. 19.83 m.sq.)
  • 代物 【しろもの】 article, goods, product, fine thing, fellow, affair, stuff, prostitute, price, cost, money
  • 地代 【ちだい】 land rent
  • 阿代 【あしろ】 Ophidion asiro (species of cusk eel)

Readings

Japanese names:
す
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
dai4
Korean:
dae

Spanish

  • generación
  • reinado
  • sustituir
  • reemplazar
  • relevar

Portuguese

  • substituto
  • mudança
  • convertido
  • repor
  • período
  • idade
  • geração
  • carga
  • valor
  • taxa

French

  • substituer
  • changer
  • convertir
  • remplacer
  • période
  • âge
  • ère
  • génération
  • montant d'argent
  • taux
  • prix
  • redevance
463 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
358 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
338 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
68 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
364 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
85 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
111 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
125 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
2.10 Japanese for Busy People
256 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
256 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
413 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
61 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
34 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
18 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
18 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1014 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
386 Morohashi
30 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
125 New Nelson (John Haig)
1005 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1080 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
87 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
257 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
2156 2001 Kanji
2a3.3 The Kanji Dictionary
1-2-3 SKIP code
2324.0 Four corner code
1-34-69 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
4ee3 Unicode hex code