kanji
/ˈkænd͡ʒi/
kanji
English
Noun Top 29,011
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Definition
The system of writing Japanese using Chinese characters.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 漢字(かんじ) (kanji, “Chinese characters”), from Middle Chinese 漢 (MC xanH, “Han dynasty, China”) + Middle Chinese 字 (MC dziH, “[written] character”) (Compare Korean 한자 (hanja), Mandarin 漢字 /汉字 (hànzì), Vietnamese Hán tự, Hokkien 漢字 /汉字 (hàn-jī / hàn-lī), Cantonese 漢字 /汉字 (hon³ zi⁶)). Doublet of hanja and Hanzi.
Example Sentences
- "Japanese is written in a mixture of kanji and kana."
- "I know about a thousand kanji."
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