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

4 strokes
Radical:
hand 手 (扌龵)
Parts:
hand
Kun:
て--てた-
On:
シュ
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N4
60 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 手術 【シュジュツ】 surgery, operation, procedure, skill with one's hands, sleight of hand
  • 手記 【シュキ】 note, memorandum, memo, memoirs, personal account
  • 二塁手 【ニルイシュ】 second baseman
  • 名手 【メイシュ】 master, expert, brilliant move (in go, shogi, etc.), excellent move
  • 交際上手 【コウサイジョウズ】 good at socializing, sociability, being a good mixer
  • 処世上手 【ショセイジョウズ】 knowing how to get on in the world, knowing the secret of success in life

Kun reading compounds

  • 手 【て】 hand, arm, forepaw, foreleg, handle, hand, worker, help, trouble, care, effort, means, way, trick, move, technique, workmanship, hand, handwriting, kind, type, sort, one's hands, one's possession, ability to cope, hand (of cards), direction, move (in go, shogi, etc.)
  • 手足 【てあし】 hands and feet, limbs, person at one's beck and call, person at hand, reliable worker
  • 逆手 【ぎゃくて】 underhand grip, backhand grip (e.g. in tennis), unexpected twist, turning the tables (on an opponent)
  • 担い手 【にないて】 bearer, carrier, person bearing responsibility, person in charge, supporter

Readings

Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
shou3
Korean:
su

Spanish

  • mano

Portuguese

  • mão

French

  • main
28 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
35 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
32 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
42 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
1827 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
37 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
54 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
118 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
2.19 Japanese for Busy People
57 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
57 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
170 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
847 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
4267 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2155 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2907 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
644 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
11768 Morohashi
3456 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2060 New Nelson (John Haig)
637 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
687 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
57 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
30 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
2247 2001 Kanji
3c0.1 The Kanji Dictionary
4-4-3 SKIP code
2-1-3 SKIP code
2050.0 Four corner code
1-28-74 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
624b Unicode hex code