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:
script, literature
Parts:
sentence, literature, style, art, decoration, figures, plan, literary radical (no. 67)
Kun:
ふみあや
On:
ブンモン
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N4
190 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 文 【ブン】 sentence, composition, text, writings, the literary arts (as opposed to the military arts), academia, literature, statement
  • 文化 【ブンカ】 culture, civilization, civilisation, Bunka era (1804.2.11-1818.4.22)
  • 公文 【コウブン】 official document, archives
  • 異文 【イブン】 variant (in a manuscript or book), part of a text that differs from other versions
  • 文 【モン】 mon, one-thousandth of a kan (unit of currency 1336-1870), mon, traditional unit used for shoe and sock sizes (approx. 2.4 cm), letter, character, sentence, scripture, incantation
  • 紋 【モン】 (family) crest, coat of arms, pattern, figure, playing card suit (in karuta)
  • 人文 【ジンブン】 humanity, civilization, civilisation, culture
  • 縄文 【ジョウモン】 straw-rope pattern pressed into earthenware, Jōmon period (ca. 14000-1000 BCE)

Kun reading compounds

  • 文 【ふみ】 letter, note, mail, book, writings, literary arts, learning, scholarship
  • 文香 【ふみこう】 scented insert (to enclose with a letter), perfumed insert
  • 御文 【おふみ】 Gobunsho (The Epistles, a collection of letters written by Rennyo)
  • 雁の文 【かりのふみ】 (a) letter
  • 綾 【あや】 figure, design, twill weave, pattern of diagonal stripes, style (of writing), figure (of speech), design, plot, plan, minor market fluctuation, technical correction, cat's cradle, lease rod (in a loom)
  • 文つける 【あやつける】 to make a false accusation, to invent a pretext for a quarrel
  • 言葉は身の文 【ことばはみのあや】 words betray one's character

Readings

Japanese names:
かざり、 ふ、 も
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
wen2, wen4
Korean:
mun

Spanish

  • letras
  • literatura

Portuguese

  • sentença
  • literatura
  • estilo
  • arte
  • decoração
  • figuras
  • plano

French

  • phrase
  • littérature
  • style
  • art
  • décoration
  • figure (de style)
  • plan
  • radical littéraire (no. 67)
134 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
77 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
68 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
136 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
2064 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
71 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
180 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
86 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
3.19 Japanese for Busy People
111 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
111 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
320 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
949 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2458 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1242 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1708 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1741 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
13450 Morohashi
1962 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2364 New Nelson (John Haig)
1725 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1861 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
89 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
35 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
466 2001 Kanji
2j2.4 The Kanji Dictionary
2-2-2 SKIP code
0040.0 Four corner code
1-42-24 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
6587 Unicode hex code