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Kanji Detail for 夏 - "summer, xia dynasty"

  • Meaning

    夏 means "summer, xia dynasty." Also associated with grand.

    1. Summer - One of the four seasons; from the start of summer to the start of autumn; around June to August.

    2. Xia dynasty - The name of the oldest legendary dynasty in China.

    3. Grand - Large; flourishing; prosperous.

  • Words using

    • 夏休み なつやすみ Listen summer vacation; summer holiday
    • 今夏 こんか Listen this summer; next summer; last summer
    • 冷夏 れいか Listen cool summer; cold summer; cooler-than-normal summer
    • 夏場 なつば Listen summertime; summer season
    • 夏季 かき Listen summer season; summer; summertime
    • 真夏 まなつ Listen middle of summer; height of summer; midsummer
    • 夏場所 なつばしょ Listen Summer Tournament (held in Tokyo in May)
    • 初夏 しょか Listen early summer
  • Four-character idioms with

    • 春夏秋冬 しゅんかしゅうとう Listen spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter; the four seasons
    • 夏炉冬扇 かろとうせん Listen summer fires and winter fans; useless things
    • 夏虫疑氷 かちゅうぎひょう Listen being narrow-minded due to limited experience; refusing to believe in things outside of one's own limited experience
  • Origin of

    A pictograph of a masked dancer — great head, ornamented body, trailing feet 夂 — performing the high summer rite. The season kept the festival's costume.

    How to remember it: A dancer in a huge mask, feet dragging in the heat — the summer festival, and summer itself.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: summer, xia dynasty
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あかり, か, かすみ, かほ)
    • Also carries these associations: grand

    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

    Given names (あかり)Listen ()Listen (かほ)Listen (さまー)Listen (なつ)Listen (ぱいん)Listen

    Surnames (かすみ)Listen (しや)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    summer

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    summer; great, grand, big

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC; Xia of the Sixteen Kingdoms (407–432); surname Xia

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    summer; the Xia or Hsia dynasty

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

    One of the four seasons. From the Beginning of Summer (around May 6 in the solar calendar) to the Beginning of Autumn (around August 8 in the solar calendar) is summer. In Chinese custom, the fourth, fifth, and sixth lunar months are summer. In European and American custom, June, July, and August are summer. | China is called 夏. Such as 華夏. | Great. 夏屋 means a large house. See (Book of Odes). | A dynasty name. Yu received Shun's abdication and ruled all under heaven (2205 BCE). Seventeen rulers over 440 years. Destroyed by Shang. | A state name. Shun enfeoffed Yu at Xia, in present-day Yu County, Henan. During Eastern Jin, the Xiongnu Helian Bobo occupied present-day Suiyuan and Shaanxi, naming his state Xia. At the beginning of Song, Zhao Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor with the state name Xia, occupying present-day Suiyuan, Ningxia, and Gansu. Commonly called Western Xia. | Same as 檟. 夏楚: Instruments for corporal punishment in ancient schools, used to beat those who wouldn't learn. Also written as 榎.
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • I wanted to work this summer.

  • Spring comes between winter and summer.

  • It is unbearably hot this summer.

  • He doesn't like the heat of the summer.

  • The summer vacation begins in july.

  • I climbed the mountain last summer.

  • The concert will take place next summer.

  • Summer has arrived at last.

  • I get up early in summer as a rule.

  • We have had a lot of thunder this summer.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 夂 夊 (fuyugashira・chi・suinyo・natsuashi)

See all kanji with this radical →

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