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Kanji Detail for 殺 - "to kill, to reduce, to suppress"

殺

  • Meaning

    殺 means "to kill, to reduce, to suppress."

    1. Kill - To end life; to slay.

    2. Reduce - To diminish; to decrease.

    3. Suppress - To restrain; to control.

  • Words using 殺

    • 殺人 さつじん Listen murder; homicide; manslaughter
    • 殺す ころす Listen to kill; to slay; to murder
    • 暗殺 あんさつ Listen assassination
    • 殺害 さつがい Listen killing; murder
    • 併殺 へいさつ Listen double play
    • 殺し ころし Listen murder; killing; murderer
    • 射殺 しゃさつ Listen shooting to death
    • 殺虫剤 さっちゅうざい Listen insecticide; pesticide

  • Four-character idioms with 殺

    • 生殺与奪 せいさつよだつ Listen (having) life-and-death power (over)
    • 一殺多生 いっさつたしょう Listen it is justifiable to kill one person to save the lives of many
    • 殺生禁断 せっしょうきんだん Listen prohibition against hunting and fishing
    • 活殺自在 かっさつじざい Listen the power of life or death
    • 矯角殺牛 きょうかくさつぎゅう Listen trying to straighten the horns of a bull, and killing it in the process; trying to correct a small defect and ruining the whole thing; the cure is worse than the disease

  • Tattoo check: 殺

    • Verified meaning: to kill, to reduce, to suppress
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あやめ, さつ)
    • Traditionally considered inauspicious in names — Japanese readers may find it an unlucky choice. Check the meanings above carefully before using it on skin.

    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 殺

    Given names 殺(あやめ)Listen 殺(さつ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    kill; murder; butcher; slice off; split; diminish; reduce; spoil

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    kill, slaughter, murder; hurt; to pare off, reduce, clip

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    to kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce; (dialect) to smart; (used after a verb) extremely

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    to kill, to murder, to slaughter; to hurt

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

    To execute. | All cases of causing death are called 殺. As in suicide is also called 自殺. | To diminish. The meaning of decrease. The Doctrine of the Mean says: "The grades of closeness in treating relatives" (親親之殺).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    sai(サイ) サイ

    satsu(サツ) サツ

    setsu(セツ) セツ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    aya.meru(あや-める) あや-める

    goro.shi(ごろ-し) ごろ-し

    koro.su(ころ-す) ころ-す

    so.gu(そ-ぐ) そ-ぐ

  • Strokes

    tip

    10 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    殳 (hokozukuri・rumata)

  • Related Keywords

    kill reduce suppress cut destroy erase murder slay death diminish elimination extermination slaughter restrain

Sentences including 殺

  • He was shot to death.

  • The police are looking into the murder case.

  • He tried to kill himself.

  • Who was the man killed on the hill?

  • He sold me down the river.

  • She killed herself at the age of thirty.

  • He killed him.

  • He was put to death finally.

  • It is impossible that she should have killed herself.

  • One day he killed himself.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 殳 (hokozukuri・rumata)

See all kanji with this radical →

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