Jisho

×

4 strokes
Radical:
legs
Parts:
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

6 strokes
Radical:
pestle
Parts:
Variants:
year, counter for years
Kun:
とし
On:
ネン
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N5
6 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 年 【ネン】 year, counter for years (e.g. of an era), grades (e.g. school), period of an apprentice's contract (usu. ten years)
  • 年会 【ネンカイ】 conference, annual convention
  • 往年 【オウネン】 years gone by, earlier years, former years, the past
  • 平年 【ヘイネン】 non-leap year, average year (for rainfall, temperature, etc.), normal year

Kun reading compounds

  • 年 【とし】 year, age, years, past one's prime, old age
  • 年明け 【としあけ】 beginning of the year, early in the New Year
  • いい年 【いいとし】 mature age, advanced age, maturity, age when one is old enough to know better
  • 御年 【おんとし】 age (esp. advanced)

Readings

Japanese names:
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
nian2
Korean:
nyeon

Spanish

  • año
  • edad

Portuguese

  • Ano

French

  • année
  • compteur d'années
126 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
20 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
64 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
3 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
188 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
64 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
51 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
342 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
2.3 Japanese for Busy People
45 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
45 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
24 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
574 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2528 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1284 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1752 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1045 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
9168 Morohashi
2035 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1593 New Nelson (John Haig)
1036 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1114 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
13 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
51 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
2355 2001 Kanji
0a6.16 The Kanji Dictionary
2-2-4 SKIP code
4-6-3 SKIP code
8050.0 Four corner code
1-39-15 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
5e74 Unicode hex code