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Kanji for Lapis Lazuli

The kanji most commonly used for "Lapis Lazuli" are 瑠、璃、琉.

Kanji that mean Lapis Lazuli

  • lapis lazuli

    Onyomi: ru, ryuu 14 strokes Jōyō

  • lapis lazuli, glass, crystal

    Onyomi: ri 15 strokes Jōyō

  • lapis lazuli, ryukyu

    Onyomi: ru, ryuu 11 strokes Jinmeiyō

The stone is 瑠璃, ruri, and it takes both characters. Neither works alone: 瑠 appears essentially only in 瑠璃 and in 浄瑠璃, the chanted narration of puppet theater, while 璃 carries the glassy sense and also turns up in 玻璃, an old word for crystal or glass.

Because the compound names a deep blue, ruri serves as a color word as well as a mineral, and 瑠璃 is used as a girl’s given name.

琉 is a different character with a similar sound and a related sense of precious stone, but in practice a Japanese reader will see it as the 琉 of 琉球, the Ryūkyū Islands. Both 瑠 and 琉 are popular building blocks in modern given names, chosen largely for their sound rather than for what they mean.

Before you use Lapis Lazuli kanji

Write both characters: 瑠璃 is the word, and either one alone reads as a name fragment rather than as the stone. 琉 is not a substitute — despite the similar sound it will be read as the 琉 of Ryūkyū, that is, Okinawa.

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