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Kanji for Sleep
The kanji most commonly used for "Sleep" are 眠、睡、寝.
眠
Kanji that mean Sleep
眠 is sleep as the state — the character in 睡眠 (sleep), 安眠 (sound sleep) and 眠い (sleepy). Its right half 民 lends the sound; the eye radical 目 on the left tells you where sleep shows. It is also the character of 永眠, “eternal sleep”, the standard euphemism for death — context makes the difference.
睡 is a more literary sleep — slumber. Alone it is rare; paired it makes 睡眠 with 眠, and 熟睡 (deep sleep). 寝 is the act and the place: to lie down, to go to bed — 寝る is the everyday verb, 寝室 the bedroom. Roughly: 寝 is what you do, 眠 is the state you are in, 睡 the word’s formal half.
休 sits nearby but means rest, not sleep: a day off (休日), a break (休憩).
Words using Sleep kanji
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
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睡眠
すいみん
sleep
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寝室
しんしつ
bedroom
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不眠
ふみん
sleeplessness; insomnia; wakefulness
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寝具
しんぐ
bedding; bedclothes
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眠い
ねむい
sleepy; drowsy; somnolent
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就寝
しゅうしん
going to bed; retiring (for the night)
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冬眠
とうみん
hibernation; winter sleep; brumation
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昼寝
ひるね
(afternoon) nap; sleeping during the day; siesta
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眠る
ねむる
to sleep; to die; to rest (in peace)
Before you use Sleep kanji
眠 is beautiful but double-edged: it is also the character of 永眠, eternal rest. Alone on skin it can read as "asleep" in the funerary sense as easily as the restful one. 安眠 ("peaceful sleep") pins down the gentle meaning; 寝 alone just means "lie down" and reads oddly casual.