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Kanji Detail for 四 - "four, four times"

四

  • Meaning

    四 means "four, four times."

    1. Four - The number 4; four units.

    2. Four times - Four occurrences; the fourth time.

    3. Four directions - The four cardinal directions.

    4. Hour - An old way of telling time; 10 AM (hour of the snake) or 10 PM (hour of the boar).

  • Words using 四

    • 十四 じゅうし Listen fourteen; 14
    • 四球 しきゅう Listen base on balls; walk; pass
    • 四つ よっつ Listen four; 4; four years of age
    • 四半期 しはんき Listen quarter (of a year)
    • 二十四時間制 にじゅうよじかんせい Listen around-the-clock system
    • 六十四分音符 ろくじゅうしぶおんぷ Listen 64th note; hemidemisemiquaver; semidemisemiquaver
    • 四季 しき Listen the four seasons
    • 四方 しほう Listen the four cardinal directions; north, east, south and west; all directions

  • Four-character idioms with 四

    • 四六時中 しろくじちゅう Listen around the clock; day and night
    • 四分五裂 しぶんごれつ Listen torn asunder; disrupted and disorganized
    • 四苦八苦 しくはっく Listen being in dire distress; being hard put to it; being hard pressed (for money)
    • 一天四海 いってんしかい Listen the world; the universe
    • 三寒四温 さんかんしおん Listen alternation of three cold and four warm days (usu. in late winter and early spring)
    • 再三再四 さいさんさいし Listen repeatedly

  • Origin of 四

    Originally four stacked strokes (亖); the present form was borrowed for its sound, read by modern paleography as nostrils and breath. The tally held on through the Zhou bronzes before the borrowing won.

    How to remember it: Four tally strokes that lost their job to a borrowed sound — four.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 四

    • Verified meaning: four, four times
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read あずま, しのはら, よつ)

    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 四

    Surnames 四(あずま)Listen 四(しのはら)Listen 四(よつ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    four

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    four

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    four; 4

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    four

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

    A number name.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    shi(シ) シ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    yo(よ) よ

    yo.tsu(よ-つ) よ-つ

    yo.ttsu(よっつ) よっつ

    yon(よん) よん

  • Strokes

    tip

    5 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    囗 (kunigamae)

  • Related Keywords

    four four times four directions cardinal number quadruple quartet tetrad

Sentences including 四

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

  • I went to shikoku to visit my uncle.

  • I go to the movies three or four times a month.

  • Twice two is equal to four.

  • My father died four years ago.

  • We have four seasons in japan.

  • I paid him four dollars.

  • There are four seasons in a year.

  • The meeting closed at four p.m.

  • He will come back at four.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 囗 (kunigamae)

See all kanji with this radical →

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