Jisho

×

16 strokes
Radical:
shell
Parts:
Variants:
intelligent, wise, wisdom, cleverness
Jōyō kanji, taught in junior high
JLPT level N2
1159 of 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 賢 【ケン】 intelligence, genius, scholarship, virtue
  • 賢人 【ケンジン】 wise person, virtuous person, sage, unrefined sake
  • 遺賢 【イケン】 able men left out of office
  • 聖賢 【セイケン】 saints and sages

Kun reading compounds

  • 賢い 【かしこい】 wise, clever, smart, well-behaved (esp. children and pets), obedient, good

Readings

Japanese names:
かた、 さか、 さと、 さとし、 たか、 たて、 のり、 まこと、 まさ、 まさる
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
xian2
Korean:
hyeon

Spanish

  • inteligente
  • sabio
  • ingenioso

Portuguese

  • sábio
  • inteligente
  • sabedoria
  • inteligência

French

  • intelligent
  • sage
  • sagesse
1221 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
1488 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
4517 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
1072 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
931 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
2579 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
1288 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
1362 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
1227 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
1740 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
3518 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
1817 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2472 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
860 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
36822 Morohashi
2839 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
5816 New Nelson (John Haig)
852 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
915 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
1855 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
3461 2001 Kanji
7b9.2 The Kanji Dictionary
2-9-7 SKIP code
2-8-7 SKIP code
7780.6 Four corner code
1-24-13 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
8ce2 Unicode hex code

8 strokes
Radical:
sun, day
Parts:
Variants:

Speed

Stroke order

On reading compounds

  • 明 【メイ】 brightness, discernment, insight, an eye (for), eyesight, vision, nth year in the Meiji era (1868.9.8-1912.7.30)
  • 明暗 【メイアン】 light and darkness, light and shade
  • 公明 【コウメイ】 fairness, openness, impartiality, Komeito (Japanese political party)
  • 英明 【エイメイ】 intelligent, wise, bright, brilliant, clear-sighted
  • 明 【ミョウ】 vidya (wisdom), mantra, the coming (July 4, etc.)
  • 明日 【アシタ】 tomorrow, near future
  • 光明 【コウミョウ】 bright light, hope, bright future, light emanating from a buddha or bodhisattva, symbolizing their wisdom and compassion
  • 内明 【ナイミョウ】 adhyatma vidya (one of the five sciences of ancient India), science of spirituality
  • 明 【ミン】 Ming dynasty (of China; 1368-1644)
  • 明楽 【ミンガク】 Ming-era Chinese music (popularized in Japan during the early 17th century)
  • 胡志明 【ホーチミン】 Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), Nguyen Tat Thanh, Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)

Kun reading compounds

  • 明かり 【あかり】 light, illumination, glow, gleam, lamp, light
  • 明り先 【あかりさき】 source of light
  • 明るい 【あかるい】 light, well-lit, well-lighted, bright (of a colour), brightly-coloured, brightly-colored, cheerful, bright, spirited, sunny (e.g. disposition), encouraging (for the future of a project, etc.), promising, of fair prospects, familiar (with), knowledgeable (about), well versed (in), fair (e.g. politics), clean, impartial
  • 明るむ 【あかるむ】 to brighten, to grow light
  • 明らむ 【あからむ】 to become luminous at dawn (esp. the sky)
  • 明らか 【あきらか】 clear, obvious, evident, plain, definite, bright, light
  • 明らかにする 【あきらかにする】 to make clear, to clarify, to disclose, to make public
  • 開ける 【あける】 to open (a door, etc.), to unwrap (e.g. parcel, package), to unlock, to open (for business, etc.), to empty, to remove, to make space, to make room, to move out, to clear out, to be away from (e.g. one's house), to leave (temporarily), to dawn, to grow light, to end (of a period, season), to begin (of the New Year), to leave (one's schedule) open, to make time (for), to make (a hole), to open up (a hole)
  • 開く 【あく】 to open (e.g. doors), to open (e.g. business, etc.), to be empty, to be vacant, to be available, to be free, to be open (e.g. neckline, etc.), to have been opened (of one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to come to an end, to open (one's eyes, mouth, etc.), to have a hole, to form a gap, to have an interval (between events)
  • 明くる 【あくる】 next (day, morning, etc.), following
  • 明くる 【あくる】 next (day, morning, etc.), following
  • あくる日 【あくるひ】 next day, following day
  • 明かす 【あかす】 to pass (the night), to spend, to reveal, to divulge, to disclose, to expose, to prove, to verify

Readings

Japanese names:
あきら、 あけ、 あす、 きら、 け、 さや、 さやか、 とし、 はる、 み、 め
Mandarin Chinese (pinyin):
ming2
Korean:
myeong

Spanish

  • luz
  • brillo
  • claridad
  • listo
  • inteligente
  • claro
  • luminoso
  • iluminar
  • aclarar

Portuguese

  • brilhante
  • luz

French

  • clair
  • lumière
141 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese (Florence Sakade)
228 A Guide To Reading and Writing Japanese 3rd edition (Henshall, Seeley and De Groot)
208 A Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Kenneth G. Henshall)
84 A New Dictionary of Kanji Usage
2110 Classic Nelson (Andrew Nelson)
58 Essential Kanji (P.G. O’Neill)
186 Japanese Kanji Flashcards (Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki)
623 Japanese Names (P.G. O’Neill)
3.9 Japanese for Busy People
18 Kanji and Kana (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
18 Kanji and Kana, 2nd Edition (Spahn and Hadamitzky)
106 Kanji in Context (Nishiguchi and Kono)
984 Kodansha Compact Kanji Guide
1060 Kodansha Kanji Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
572 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
756 Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Jack Halpern)
20 Les Kanjis dans la tete (Yves Maniette)
13805 Morohashi
855 New Japanese English Character Dictionary (Jack Halpern)
2435 New Nelson (John Haig)
20 Remembering The Kanji (James Heisig)
20 Remembering The Kanji, 6th edition (James Heisig)
152 The Kanji Way to Japanese Language Power (Dale Crowley)
167 Tuttle Kanji Cards (Alexander Kask)
3846 2001 Kanji
4c4.1 The Kanji Dictionary
1-4-4 SKIP code
6702.0 Four corner code
1-44-32 JIS X 0208-1997 kuten code
660e Unicode hex code