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Kanji Detail for 昔 - "old, past, ancient"

昔

  • Meaning

    昔 means "old, past, ancient."

    1. Past - Former times; long ago.

    2. Ancient - Of old; in olden days.

  • Words using 昔

    • 昔話 むかしばなし Listen old tale; folk tale; legend
    • 一昔 ひとむかし Listen an age (ago); a long time (ago); a decade (ago)
    • 昔のまま むかしのまま Listen the way it was; the way it used be; as of old

  • Four-character idioms with 昔

    • 十年一昔 じゅうねんひとむかし Listen the pace of change makes ten years back seem like ancient history

  • Tattoo check: 昔

    • Verified meaning: old, past, ancient
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read すみたか, せき)

    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 昔

    Surnames 昔(すみたか)Listen 昔(せき)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    once upon a time; antiquity; old times

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    formerly; ancient; in beginning

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Xi

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    past, former; ancient

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

    Ancient, former. As opposed to the present. Such as 昔者, 昔日 (in the past). | Night. 一昔 means one night. From "Zuo Zhuan." The yuefu poem "Xixi Yan" is like saying "night after night."

  • Onyomi

    tip

    seki(セキ) セキ

    shaku(シャク) シャク

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    mukashi(むかし) むかし

  • Strokes

    tip

    8 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    日 (hi・hihen・nichi・nichihen)

  • Related Keywords

    past ancient old long ago olden times aged ancestral antique archaic bygone former heritage history legendary nostalgia obsolete outdated prehistoric primordial reminiscence tradition classic retro

Sentences including 昔

  • Once there lived an old man in a village.

  • This old building has seen better days.

  • These pictures always remind me of the old days.

  • At forty , he does not get as angry as he used to.

  • You and i are old friends.

  • He used to be a gentleman.

  • He used to be a quiet man.

  • He is not as well off as he used to be.

  • She used to be a very shy girl.

  • He told me how he had once been a rich man.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 日 (hi・hihen・nichi・nichihen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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