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Kanji Detail for 棟 - "ridge, building, ridgepole"

棟

  • Meaning

    棟 means "ridge, building, ridgepole."

    1. Ridge - The highest point of a roof.

    2. Building - A structure; a house.

    3. Ridgepole - The main beam supporting a roof.

    4. Leader - A chief; a head figure.

    5. Counter - A word for counting buildings.

  • Words using 棟

    • 病棟 びょうとう Listen (hospital) ward

  • Four-character idioms with 棟

    • 汗牛充棟 かんぎゅうじゅうとう Listen (having, there being) a great number of books

  • Tattoo check: 棟

    • Verified meaning: ridge, building, ridgepole
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read とう, とん, むなぎ, むね)

    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 棟

    Given names 棟(とう)Listen 棟(むなぎ)Listen 棟(むね)Listen

    Surnames 棟(とん)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    ridgepole; ridge

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    the main beams supporting a house

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    classifier for houses or buildings; ridgepole (old)

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    ridge-beam; the main support of a house

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

    The highest pillar inside a house supporting both walls, under the ridge, is called 棟 (ridgepole), colloquially called the main beam. As the main component of a house, one room is called 一棟. Connected houses are called 連棟. Abundance is described as 汗牛充棟 (enough to make oxen sweat and fill a house). | Important ministers of a nation are called 棟樑 (ridgepole and beam), meaning what everyone relies on, like a house with its ridgepole.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    toh(トウ) トウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    muna(むな) むな

    mune(むね) むね

  • Strokes

    tip

    12 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    木 (ki・kihen)

  • Related Keywords

    ridge building ridgepole counter head leader lumber roof peak architecture dwelling edifice framework home housing mansion property residence chief construct

Sentences including 棟

  • My father is a master builder.

  • Both buildings burned down.

  • Three homes were completely destroyed.

  • He has the capacity to be a future leader of the nation.

  • The master carpenter is accompanied by three apprentices.

  • Please be quiet within the ward.

  • The museum's eastern gallery was closed for cleaning.

  • The prefectural housing here is a five-story building with five staircases, designed to accommodate 10 families per staircase for 50 families in total.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 木 (ki・kihen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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