Kanji Database
English
賢

賢 — readings, stroke count and radical

Stroke order

Stroke order data from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Meaning (Japanese)

  1. かしこい。

Character meanings and origins come from the Japanese Wiktionary.

Origin of the character

形声。「貝」+音符「臤」。「優れた人」を意味する漢語｛賢｝を表す字。

Character meanings and origins come from the Japanese Wiktionary.

Meaning

intelligent, wise, wisdom, cleverness

English glosses from KANJIDIC2.

Readings

On (Sino-Japanese)
  • ケンJHS
Kun (native)
  • かしこ(い)JHS
Nanori (used in names)
  • かた
  • さか
  • さと
  • さとし
  • たか
  • たて
  • のり
  • まこと
  • まさ
  • まさる
Other languages
  • 拼音xian2
  • 한글hyeon
  • Hán-ViệtHiền

Labels show the school stage at which each Jōyō reading is taught.

Basics

Strokes
16 strokes
Radical
貝(かい)
JIS level
Level 1
JLPT (old scale)
Level 2
Unicode
U+8CE2

Components

Components this kanji is made of. Follow them to find similar kanji.

Composition (IDS): top–bottom ⿱臤貝

Words using this kanji

  • 賢人けんじん賢い人。賢者。 聖人に次いで徳がある人。 濁り酒。同様に清酒は「聖人」と呼ばれる。wise person, virtuous person, sage, unrefined sake
  • 賢明けんめい賢くて物事を適切に判断できること。また、そのさま。wise, sensible, well-advised, intelligent
  • 賢いかしこいかしこい を参照。wise, clever, smart, well-behaved (esp. children and pets)
  • 賢母けんぼwise mother
  • 賢所かしこどころ皇居のうち、三種の神器の一である八咫鏡を場所。palace sanctuary
  • 賢者けんじゃ賢い人。賢人。wise person, sage
  • 賢けんintelligence, genius, scholarship, virtue
  • 賢才けんさい賢明な優れた才知。man of ability, gifted man
  • 賢哲けんてつwise man
  • 賢察けんさつ相手の推察。discernment
  • 賢兄けんけい他人の兄に対する尊敬語。wise elder brother, polite reference to another's older brother, or to one's senior
  • 賢主けんしゅwise master
  • 賢弟けんてい賢明なおとうと。 相手のおとうとに対する尊敬語。wise younger brother, polite reference to another's younger brother, or to one's junior
  • 賢妻けんさい賢明な妻。wise (house)wife
  • 賢愚けんぐ賢いことと愚かこと。賢否。the wise and the foolish
  • 賢慮けんりょa wise idea, polite reference to another's consideration
  • 賢臣けんしん賢明で優れた家臣。wise and able retainer
  • 賢答けんとうwise answer, intelligent reply
  • 賢覧けんらんその人が見ること。(your) perusal, (your) inspection
  • 賢女けんじょ賢明な女性。賢婦。wise woman, clever woman

Words starting with this kanji, most common first.

See all words containing this kanji(56 results)

Similar-looking kanji

Selected automatically by comparing composition (IDS). “Same composition” means the parts and their arrangement match.

Lookup codes

SKIP
2-9-7
Four Corner
7780.6
Spahn–Hadamitzky
7b9.2
Heisig
915
Nelson
4517