| 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) |
Jōyō kanji, taught in grade 3
JLPT level N3
465 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
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
- Korean:
- myeong
Spanish
- orden
- mandato
- vida
Portuguese
- destino
- comando
- decreto
- vida
French
- destinée
- destin
- ordre
- décret
- vie
- nommer (à un poste)
| 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 |
Jōyō kanji, taught in junior high
JLPT level N1
1641 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Stroke order
On reading compounds
- 惜敗 【セキハイ】 regrettable defeat, defeat by a narrow margin
- 惜春 【セキシュン】 lamenting the passing of spring, lamenting the passing of one's youth
- 痛惜 【ツウセキ】 deep regret
- 哀惜 【アイセキ】 grief, sorrow
Kun reading compounds
- 惜しい 【おしい】 regrettable, disappointing, unfortunate, precious, dear, valuable, too good for, deserving better, almost (but not quite), close (but no cigar)
- 惜しむ 【おしむ】 to be frugal, to be sparing, to value, to hold dear, to regret (e.g. a loss), to feel sorry (for), to be unwilling, to be reluctant
- 惜しむべき 【おしむべき】 lamentable, regrettable
Readings
- Korean:
- seog
Spanish
- lastima
- condolencia
- pena
- penoso
- lamentable
- condolerse
- sentir
- estimar
Portuguese
- compaixão
- poupar
- frugal
- mesquinho
French
- regret
- frugal
- radin
- économe
| 1484 | A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall) |
| 1542 | A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage |
| 1712 | Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson) |
| 1024 | Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill) |
| 1303 | Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki) |
| 765 | Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 779 | Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky) |
| 1455 | Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono) |
| 820 | Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide |
| 586 | Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 355 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 442 | Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern) |
| 1195 | Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette) |
| 10814 | Morohashi |
| 484 | New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern) |
| 1894 | New Nelson (John Haig) |
| 1187 | Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig) |
| 1271 | Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig) |
| 1434 | Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask) |
| 1178 | 2001 Kanji |
| 4k8.11 | The Kanji Dictionary |
| 1-3-8 | SKIP code |
| 9406.1 | Four corner code |
| 1-32-43 | JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code |
| 60dc | Unicode hex code |