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Kanji Detail for 八 - "eight, eight times"

八

  • Meaning

    八 means "eight, eight times."

    1. Eight - The number 8; eight units.

    2. Eight times - Eight occurrences.

    3. Eighth - The eighth in order.

    4. To divide - To separate; to part.

    5. Hour of the tiger - An old time notation for around 2 AM or 2 PM.

  • Words using 八

    • 十八 じゅうはち Listen eighteen; 18
    • 八幡 はちまん Listen Hachiman (god of war); Hachiman shrine
    • 十八番 おはこ Listen one's favourite party trick (favorite); one's specialty; one's forte
    • 八重 やえ Listen eightfold; octuple; multilayered
    • 八方 はっぽう Listen all sides; the four cardinal directions and the four ordinal directions; large hanging paper lantern
    • 八分音符 はちぶおんぷ Listen 8th note; eighth note; quaver
    • 八丁 はっちょう Listen skillfulness
    • 八千代 やちよ Listen very long period; forever; eight thousand years

  • Four-character idioms with 八

    • 四苦八苦 しくはっく Listen being in dire distress; being hard put to it; being hard pressed (for money)
    • 七転八倒 しちてんばっとう Listen tossing oneself about in great pain; writhing in agony
    • 七転八起 しちてんはっき Listen not giving up; keeping at it until one succeeds
    • 七難八苦 しちなんはっく Listen the Seven Misfortunes and Eight Pains; a series of disasters
    • 八大地獄 はちだいじごく Listen The Eight Greater Hells
    • 八方美人 はっぽうびじん Listen everybody's friend; people pleaser; person who is affable to everybody

  • Origin of 八

    Two strokes parting away from each other: to divide. Eight is the endlessly halvable number — and in Japan the shape spreads downward like an opening fan, making it lucky: suehirogari, widening toward the future.

    How to remember it: Two strokes leaning apart like an opening fan — eight, the number that widens as it goes.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 八

    • Verified meaning: eight, eight times
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read たかはち, はち, はちやなぎ, はつさき)

    A single kanji rarely maps one-to-one onto an English word. Read the meanings and associations above as a set — a character that fits the dictionary definition can still carry a connotation you did not intend.

  • Name readings of 八

    Given names 八(ひらく)Listen

    Surnames 八(たかはち)Listen 八(はち)Listen 八(はちやなぎ)Listen 八(はつさき)Listen 八(はつざき)Listen 八(やつやなぎ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    eight; eight radical (no. 12)

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    eight; all around, all sides

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    eight

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    eight; all around, all sides

    XSZD Xuéshēng Zìdiǎn (學生字典) - Student's Dictionary

    A number name.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    hachi(ハチ) ハチ

    hatsu(ハツ) ハツ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    ya(や) や

    ya.ttsu(や-っつ) や-っつ

    yatsu(やつ) やつ

    you(よう) よう

  • Strokes

    tip

    2 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    八 (hachi・hachigashira・ha)

  • Related Keywords

    eight eight times eighth divide 8 number octagon octave octet

Sentences including 八

  • Don't try to be all things to all men.

  • In nine case out of ten he will be late.

  • Our school begins at eight in the morning.

  • Ten to one they'll miss the train.

  • I'll call for you at eight tomorrow morning.

  • That's his specialty.

  • It happened between eight and ten.

  • I tried all possible means.

  • It's eight o'clock at night.

  • Ten to one , he will succeed.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 八 (hachi・hachigashira・ha)

See all kanji with this radical →

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