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Kanji Detail for 冥 - "dark"

冥

  • Meaning

    冥 means "dark." Also associated with the afterlife, divine power.

    1. Dark - Without light; pitch black.

    2. Ignorant - Not understanding principles; foolish.

    3. The afterlife - The world after death.

    4. Divine power - The inscrutable power of gods and Buddha.

  • Words using 冥

    • 冥福 めいふく Listen happiness in the next world; heavenly bliss; repose of one's soul

  • Four-character idioms with 冥

    • 頑冥不霊 がんめいふれい Listen stubborn and ignorant

  • Tattoo check: 冥

    • Verified meaning: dark
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read めい)
    • Also carries these associations: the afterlife, divine power

    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 冥

    Given names 冥(めい)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    dark

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    dark, gloomy, night; deep

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    old variant of 冥[ming2]

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    dark, gloomy, night; deep

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

    Dark; dim. Meaning dim and not bright. Colloquially, where the dead dwell is called 冥中 (the netherworld), meaning a dark world. Such as 冥福 (blessings in the afterlife), 冥用 (offerings for the dead). Also, posthumous birthday is called 冥壽, referring to a deceased person's birthday. | Ignorant. Such as 冥愚 (foolish), 冥頑 (obstinate), all meaning being ignorant of reason. | Meaning of high and distant. Such as 青冥, 蒼冥, 高冥, 鴻冥, all referring to the height of the sky beyond human sight. | Deep thought is called 冥. Such as 冥搜 (deep search), 冥想 (deep meditation), meaning thoughts that can penetrate into the profound.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    mei(メイ) メイ

    myoh(ミョウ) ミョウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    kura.i(くらい) くらい

  • Strokes

    tip

    10 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    冖 (wakammuri・hirakammuri・bekikammuri)

  • Related Keywords

    dark the afterlife divine power foolish ignorant underworld hades death netherworld gloom shadow abyss obscurity occult night eerie mystic

Sentences including 冥

  • The nether gate was opened.

  • There is no King on the Road of Death.

  • May his soul rest in peace.

  • May your soul rest in peace.

  • Being left alone, he sank into meditation.

  • A long time ago when Pluto was still a planet, there was a boy named Tom.

  • Christopher Columbus once fought Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld, with nothing but his hat.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 冖 (wakammuri・hirakammuri・bekikammuri)

See all kanji with this radical →

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