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:
old 老 (耂)
Parts:
old man, old age, grow old
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 4
JLPT level N3
803 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 老 【ロウ】 old age, age, old people, the old, the aged, senior, elder, I, me, my humble self
  • 老化 【ロウカ】 ageing, aging, senile deterioration
  • 養老 【ヨウロウ】 making provision for the elderly, making provision for one's old age, spending one's old age in comfort, Yōrō era (717.11.17-724.2.4)
  • 敬老 【ケイロウ】 respect for the aged

Kun reading compounds

  • 老いる 【おいる】 to age, to grow old
  • 老ける 【ふける】 to age, to grow old (esp. in appearance), to show marks of age

Readings

Japanese names:
えび、 おい、 び
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
lao3
Korean:
ro

Spanish

  • envejecer
  • viejo
  • experimentado
  • hacerse viejo

Portuguese

  • velho
  • velhice
  • envelhecer

French

  • vieillard
  • âgé
  • vieillir
541 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
638 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
609 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
788 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
3683 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
637 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
837 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
334 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
543 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
552 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
737 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
1576 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
3963 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2040 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2754 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1259 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
28842 Morohashi
3197 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
4696 New Nelson (John Haig)
1251 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1340 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
472 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
1456 2001 Kanji
2k4.5 The Kanji Dictionary
3-4-2 SKIP code
4471.1 Four corner code
1-47-23 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
8001 Unicode hex code