Share this link via
Or copy link
Kanji for World
The kanji most commonly used for "World" are 世、界.
世
Kanji that mean World
世界 (sekai) — the world — joins two characters with separate careers. 世 (se / yo) is the world as an age of human life: three tens joined, a generation of thirty years. 世の中 is society, “the world we live in”; 世代 is a generation; 出世 is rising in the world. Buddhism deepened it: this floating life, the 浮世 of ukiyo-e — “pictures of the floating world”.
界 (kai) is the world as bounded realm — the field radical 田 with a divider: territory marked out. 業界 is an industry; 限界 is a limit; 銀世界 — “the silver world” — is Japanese for a landscape deep in snow. Anime vocabulary leans on it: 異世界 (isekai) is “another world”, the parallel-universe genre.
So Japanese builds “world” from time (世) and boundary (界) — the span of lives inside the drawn line. The old blessing 世界平和, world peace, uses all of it.
Words using World kanji
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
-
世界
せかい
the world; society; the universe
-
世代
せだい
generation
-
政界
せいかい
(world of) politics; political world; political circles
-
世紀
せいき
century; era; of the century (e.g. fight of the century)
-
業界
ぎょうかい
business world; business circles; (the) industry
-
世界的
せかいてき
worldwide; global; international
-
財界
ざいかい
financial world; business circles
-
世帯
せたい
household; family
-
限界
げんかい
limit; bound
Before you use World kanji
世界 in full reads plainly and grandly — "the world" — and appears in countless lyrics; it wears well. 世 alone reads as "generation/this life" with a floating-world shimmer; 界 alone as "realm", which gamers may enjoy. For the wanderer, 世界 with 旅 (journey) says the itinerary outright.