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Kanji Detail for 歌 - "to sing, song, poetry"

歌

  • Meaning

    歌 means "to sing, song, poetry."

    1. To sing - To sing with melody; to sing along with music.

    2. Song - Something sung with rhythm and melody.

    3. Poetry - A form of Chinese poetry; a style of verse.

    4. Japanese poetry - Japanese poems as opposed to Chinese poetry; Yamato uta.

  • Words using 歌

    • 歌手 かしゅ Listen singer
    • 短歌 たんか Listen tanka; 31-mora Japanese poem
    • 歌人 かじん Listen poet (of tanka poems)
    • 歌劇 かげき Listen opera
    • 歌詞 かし Listen song lyrics; words of a song; libretto
    • 歌集 かしゅう Listen collection of waka poems; anthology; songbook
    • 歌曲 かきょく Listen melody; tune; song
    • 演歌 えんか Listen enka; traditional-style Japanese popular ballad; troubadour

  • Four-character idioms with 歌

    • 四面楚歌 しめんそか Listen being surrounded by enemies on all sides; being betrayed (forsaken) by everybody
    • 悲歌慷慨 ひかこうがい Listen indignant lamentation over the evils of the times
    • 放歌高吟 ほうかこうぎん Listen loud singing
    • 歌舞音曲 かぶおんぎょく Listen singing, dancing and music; (public) entertainment; performing arts
    • 詩歌管弦 しいかかんげん Listen Chinese and Japanese poetry and instrumental music; poetry and music; literature and music
    • 高歌放吟 こうかほうぎん Listen singing at the top of one's voice

  • Tattoo check: 歌

    • Verified meaning: to sing, song, poetry
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read うた, かすみ)

    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 歌

    Given names 歌(うた)Listen

    Surnames 歌(かすみ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    song; sing

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    song, lyrics; sing, chant; praise

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    song (CL:首[shou3],支[zhi1]); (bound form) to sing

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    song, lyrics; to sing, to chant

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

    To chant. Meaning to draw out one's voice. As in reciting poetry is also called 歌詩 (to sing poems). | Singing set to music is called 歌. As in 笙歌 (music and song), 歌舞 (song and dance). | Poetry and songs. The Yuefu (Music Bureau) has "Long Song" and "Short Song" styles. Later poets' seven-character ancient verses often use 歌 in titles. As in Du Fu's "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup" (飲中八仙歌).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    ka(カ) カ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    uta(うた) うた

    uta.u(うた-う) うた-う

  • Strokes

    tip

    14 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    欠 (akubi・kakeru・kenzukuri)

  • Related Keywords

    to sing song poetry poem singing anthem ballad choir chorus composition folk harmony hymn karaoke lyrics melody meter music opera performance rhythm serenade verse vocal

Sentences including 歌

  • This song is a love song.

  • One of my favorite tunes was playing on the radio.

  • Keiko is a singer.

  • He is known as a rock singer.

  • This song reminds me of young days.

  • She is not so much a singer as an actress.

  • The song caught on with the public.

  • I feel like singing in the rain.

  • That singer is very popular with young people.

  • They each sang in turn.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 欠 (akubi・kakeru・kenzukuri)

See all kanji with this radical →

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