Jisho

×

8 strokes
Radical:
mouth, opening
Parts:
fate, command, decree, destiny, life, appoint
Kun:
いのち
On:
メイミョウ
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3
JLPT level N3
465 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 命 【メイ】 order, command, decree, life, destiny, fate
  • 命運 【メイウン】 fate, destiny
  • 延命 【エンメイ】 keeping alive longer, prolonging life, life extension, life-support
  • 十月革命 【ジュウガツカクメイ】 October Revolution
  • 命婦 【ミョウブ】 title for high-ranking court ladies
  • 延命 【エンメイ】 keeping alive longer, prolonging life, life extension, life-support
  • 安心立命 【アンシンリツメイ】 spiritual peace and enlightenment, keeping an unperturbed mind through faith

Kun reading compounds

  • 命 【いのち】 life, life force, lifetime, lifespan, most important thing, foundation, core, paired tattoos of the "life" kanji on the upper arms of a man and woman (indicating unwavering love), fate, destiny, karma
  • 命からがら 【いのちからがら】 for dear life, barely escaping alive
  • 貴い命 【たっといいのち】 precious life
  • 露の命 【つゆのいのち】 life as evanescent as the dew

Readings

Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
ming4
Korean:
myeong

Spanish

  • orden
  • mandato
  • vida

Portuguese

  • destino
  • comando
  • decreto
  • vida

French

  • destinée
  • destin
  • ordre
  • décret
  • vie
  • nommer (à un poste)
519 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
416 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
394 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
388 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
430 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
387 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
411 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
671 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
578 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
587 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
997 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
325 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2553 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1303 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1772 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1412 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
3473 Morohashi
2058 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
767 New Nelson (John Haig)
1400 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1502 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
249 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
316 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
2844 2001 Kanji
2a6.26 The Kanji Dictionary
2-2-6 SKIP code
2-3-5 SKIP code
8062.7 Four corner code
1-44-31 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
547d Unicode hex code

5 strokes
Radical:
man, human 人 (亻)
Parts:
orders, laws, command, decree, good
On:
レイ
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 4
JLPT level N2
804 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 令 【レイ】 command, order, dictation, nth year in the Reiwa era (May 1, 2019-)
  • 令状 【レイジョウ】 warrant, summons, written order
  • 号令 【ゴウレイ】 order (esp. to a number of people), command, ritual of bowing at start and end of school class
  • 政令 【セイレイ】 government ordinance, cabinet order

Readings

Japanese names:
のり、 りょう、 れ
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
ling4, ling2, ling3
Korean:
ryeong

Spanish

  • órdenes
  • leyes

Portuguese

  • pedidos
  • leis antigas
  • comando
  • decreto

French

  • ordre
  • anciennes lois
  • décret
736 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
633 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
603 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
668 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
360 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
496 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
303 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
155 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
831 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
850 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
998 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
46 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
2489 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1259 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1725 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
1413 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
387 Morohashi
1995 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
121 New Nelson (John Haig)
1401 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
1503 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
460 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
2844 2001 Kanji
2a3.9 The Kanji Dictionary
2-2-3 SKIP code
2-3-2 SKIP code
8030.7 Four corner code
8022.7 Four corner code
1-46-65 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
4ee4 Unicode hex code

3 strokes
Radical:
one
Parts:
Variants:
below, down, descend, give, low, inferior
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 1
JLPT level N5
97 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 下 【カ】 under (influence, control, conditions, etc. of), during (war, occupation, etc.)
  • 下位 【カイ】 low rank, lower position, subordinate position, lower order (e.g. byte)
  • 陛下 【ヘイカ】 Your Majesty, His Majesty, Her Majesty
  • 最下 【サイカ】 the lowest, the worst
  • 下 【ゲ】 lowness (of degree, value, etc.), inferiority, second volume (of two), third volume (of three)
  • 下山 【ゲザン】 descending a mountain, descent
  • 高下 【コウゲ】 rise and fall (e.g. prices), fluctuation, difference (rank, grade, quality, etc.), variation
  • 帯下 【タイゲ】 leukorrhoea, leucorrhoea, leukorrhea, leucorrhea, mucous discharge from female genitals

Kun reading compounds

  • 下 【した】 below, down, under, younger (e.g. daughter), bottom, beneath, underneath, just after, right after, inferiority, one's inferior (i.e. one's junior), trade-in, preliminary, preparatory
  • 下請け 【したうけ】 subcontract, subcontractor (person or company)
  • 幕下 【まくした】 third highest division, wrestlers of the third highest division
  • 上下 【うえした】 top and bottom, up and down, high and low, above and below, upper and lower ends, upside-down
  • 下 【しも】 lower reaches (of a river), bottom, lower part, lower half (of the body, esp. the privates), feces (faeces), urine, menses, end, far from the imperial palace (i.e. far from Kyoto, esp. of western Japan), dirty (e.g. dirty jokes, etc.)
  • 下期 【しもき】 second half of the (fiscal) year
  • 風下 【かざしも】 leeward, lee, downwind
  • 裃 【かみしも】 samurai costume, old ceremonial costume, top and bottom, up and down, high and low, above and below, upper and lower ends
  • 下 【もと】 under (guidance, supervision, rules, the law, etc.), under (a flag, the sun, etc.), beneath, with (e.g. one blow), on (the promise, condition, assumption, etc. that ...), in (e.g. the name of ...), (someone's) side, (someone's) location
  • 山元 【やまもと】 foot of a mountain, base of a mountain, mine, colliery, owner of a mountain, operator of a mine
  • お膝元 【おひざもと】 beside a nobleman, close aid (of a nobleman, etc.), place where a high ranking person resides, one's own city (of a shogun, lord, etc.), Imperial capital, Imperial court, (shogun's) headquarters, place under one's direct control, one's own turf, one's own backyard
  • 下げる 【さげる】 to hang, to suspend, to wear (e.g. decoration), to lower, to reduce, to bring down, to demote, to move back, to pull back, to clear (plates), to remove (food, etc. from table or altar), to keep on playing after one has formed a scoring combination with captured cards
  • 下がる 【さがる】 to come down, to go down, to fall, to drop, to sink, to get lower, to hang, to dangle, to move back, to step back, to withdraw, to retire, to deteriorate, to fall off, to be downgraded, to get closer to the present day, below, south of
  • 下る 【くだる】 to descend, to go down, to come down, to be handed down (of an order, judgment, etc.), to pass (of time), to surrender, to capitulate, to be less than, to be inferior to, to have the runs, to have diarrhea, to pass (in stool), to be discharged from the body, to depreciate oneself, to be humble
  • 下り 【くだり】 down-train, train heading toward the ending point of its route, down-slope, downward going, downbound (esp. away from Tokyo), downstream, downhill
  • 下り坂 【くだりざか】 downhill, downward slope, descent, decline, waning, ebb, (going) downhill
  • 下す 【くだす】 to make a decision, to draw a conclusion, to give a judgement, to hand down a verdict, to pass a sentence, to give an order, to let go down, to lower, to do oneself, to do by oneself, to beat, to defeat, to have loose bowels, to have diarrhea, to pass (in stool), to discharge from the body, to do in one go, to do to the end without stopping
  • 下さる 【くださる】 to give, to confer, to bestow, to kindly do for one, to oblige, to favour, to favor
  • 下ろす 【おろす】 to take down, to bring down, to lower (a hand, flag, shutter, etc.), to drop (an anchor, curtain, etc.), to let down (hair), to launch (a boat), to drop off (a passenger), to let off, to unload (goods, a truck, etc.), to offload, to discharge, to withdraw (money), to use for the first time, to wear for the first time, to cut off, to fillet (fish), to grate (e.g. radish), to prune (branches), to remove (someone from a position), to oust, to drop, to clear (the table), to remove (offerings from an altar), to pass down (e.g. old clothes), to hand down, to expel from the body (e.g. worms), to abort (a fetus), to invoke (a spirit), to call down
  • 降りる 【おりる】 to descend (e.g. a mountain), to go down, to come down, to alight (e.g. from bus), to get off, to disembark, to dismount, to step down, to retire, to give up, to quit, to fold, to be granted, to be issued, to be given, to form (of frost, dew, mist, etc.), to be passed (from the body; e.g. of a roundworm)

Readings

Japanese names:
さか、 しと
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
xia4
Korean:
ha

Spanish

  • debajo
  • inferior
  • debajo de
  • parte inferior

Portuguese

  • baixo
  • abaixo
  • descende
  • inferior
  • sub
  • sob

French

  • au-dessous
  • descendre
  • bas
  • donner (vous me donnez)
  • inférieur
21 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
24 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
7 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
72 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
9 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
30 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
6 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
46 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
2.1 Japanese for Busy People
31 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
31 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
32 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
4 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
4186 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2115 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2862 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
50 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
14 Morohashi
3378 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
9 New Nelson (John Haig)
50 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
51 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
75 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
13 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
3154 2001 Kanji
2m1.2 The Kanji Dictionary
4-3-1 SKIP code
1023.0 Four corner code
1-18-28 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
4e0b Unicode hex code