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Kanji Detail for 筆 - "brush, pen, writing"

  • Meaning

    筆 means "brush, pen, writing."

    1. Brush - A writing or painting implement.

    2. Pen - An instrument for writing.

    3. Writing - The act of composing text.

  • Words using

    • 筆頭 ひっとう Listen brush tip; first on a list; head
    • 執筆 しっぴつ Listen writing; authoring
    • 筆者 ひっしゃ Listen writer; author
    • 鉛筆 えんぴつ Listen (wooden) pencil
    • 筆記 ひっき Listen writing down; taking notes; copying
    • 随筆 ずいひつ Listen essays; miscellaneous writings; literary jottings
    • 万年筆 まんねんひつ Listen fountain pen
    • 自筆 じひつ Listen one's own handwriting; autograph; holograph
  • Four-character idioms with

    • 一筆啓上 いっぴつけいじょう Listen this will just be a short note; I'm writing to tell you
    • 懸腕直筆 けんわんちょくひつ Listen calligraphy technique of holding the brush perpendicularly, lower arm raised, and elbow held away from the body
    • 特筆大書 とくひつたいしょ Listen (printed or written in) large letters
    • 舞文曲筆 ぶぶんきょくひつ Listen twisting of the truth in one's writing; playing with text to distort the truth
  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: brush, pen, writing
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read ふで, ふでさき, ふみ)

    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

    Given names (ふみ)Listen

    Surnames (ふで)Listen (ふでさき)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    writing brush; writing; painting brush; handwriting

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    writing brush; write; stroke

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    writing brush; writing implement (pen, pencil etc) (CL:支[zhi1],枝[zhi1]); brushstroke; stroke (in painting or calligraphy); (bound form) style of writing; literary manner; technique of brushwork; (classifier) stroke of a Chinese character; (classifier) sum of money; financial transaction; piece of business; (literary) to write (with a brush or pen)

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    pen, pencil, writing brush; to compose, to write; Hanzi stroke

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

    A writing implement. Used for making characters. Anciently using bamboo slips. The brush was a knife or awl type. In Qin, Meng Tian first used deer and sheep hair to make them. Seen in (Ma Gao's Notes on Chinese Antiquity). | Recording matters by writing is called 筆. Such as saying "recording it in writing." Confucius edited the Spring and Autumn Annals. What to write, he wrote. What to delete, he deleted. Seen in (Preface to Book of Documents). Now having others correct one's writing is called 筆削 (editing). | All calligraphy, painting, and writing require brushes. Such as saying 筆法 (brushwork), 筆意 (brush spirit), 文筆 (writing style), 詩筆 (poetic style), and such.
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • Can i use your pencil?

  • Do you have a pencil?

  • Put down your pencil.

  • Someone has walked off with my pencil.

  • I couldn't make out the writing.

  • That is a pencil.

  • Is this pencil yours?

  • I'm sorry i have no pencil to write with.

  • You must not write a letter with a pencil.

  • Do you have a pen or pencil?

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

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