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Kanji Detail for 平 - "flat, peace, ordinary"

平

  • Meaning

    平 means "flat, peace, ordinary."

    1. Flat - Level; even.

    2. Peace - Calm; tranquility.

    3. Ordinary - Normal; usual.

    4. Fair - Just; equal.

  • Words using 平

    • 和平 わへい Listen peace
    • 平和 へいわ Listen peace; harmony
    • 平均 へいきん Listen average; mean; balance
    • 平壌 ピョンヤン Listen Pyongyang (North Korea)
    • 平成 へいせい Listen Heisei era (1989.1.8-2019.4.30)
    • 平等 びょうどう Listen equality; impartiality; evenness
    • 平年 へいねん Listen non-leap year; average year (for rainfall, temperature, etc.); normal year
    • 太平洋戦争 たいへいようせんそう Listen Pacific War (1941-1945)

  • Four-character idioms with 平

    • 一路平安 いちろへいあん Listen (wishing someone) bon voyage
    • 不平不満 ふへいふまん Listen discontent and grumbling
    • 低頭平身 ていとうへいしん Listen prostrating oneself
    • 俗談平話 ぞくだんへいわ Listen conversation on worldly affairs; chat about everyday life (business)
    • 公平無私 こうへいむし Listen impartiality; fair play
    • 天下泰平 てんかたいへい Listen peace throughout the world; carefree; peaceful

  • Origin of 平

    A pictograph of evenness — classically read as breath spreading level over a balance: nothing rises, nothing sinks. Flat, calm, and by extension at peace.

    How to remember it: A balance at rest, its beam dead level — nothing tips: flat, even, peaceful.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 平

    • Verified meaning: flat, peace, ordinary
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read おさむ, さきひら, たいら, ただし)

    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 平

    Given names 平(おさむ)Listen 平(たいら)Listen 平(はかる)Listen 平(ひとし)Listen 平(ひら)Listen

    Surnames 平(さきひら)Listen 平(ただし)Listen 平(ひらさき)Listen 平(ひらざき)Listen 平(ひらたか)Listen 平(ひらはま)Listen 平(ひらみね)Listen

  • Compare with other kanji that mean the same thing:

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    even; flat; peace

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    flat, level, even; peaceful

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Ping

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    flat, level, even; peaceful

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

    Level; flat. Without tilting or height difference is called 平. Such as 水平, 地平. Two lines proceeding at the same distance are called parallel lines. Or regarding solids, such as 平圓, 平三角. | Equal; uniform. Such as 平速, 平等. Equalizing taxes is called 平準. The Records of the Grand Historian has a Treatise on Leveling, about methods of balancing taxation. Now, selling rice at reduced prices to stabilize market prices is called 平糶, same meaning. | Pacified. Such as 一波未平、一波又起. Hence, not resisting is 平服. Tranquil without incident is 平安, 太平. | To pacify. Such as 平亂, 平反, meaning making the wrongly accused innocent. | Peaceful. Feeling indignant is 不平. In Spring and Autumn, when states made peace, it was called 平. | Ordinary. Such as 平生, 平日. | Simple. Such as 平淡無奇. | A standard for weights. Such as 關平, 漕平. Also written as 秤. | The reading of characters has four tones: level, rising, departing, entering. Smooth without highs and lows is called 平聲. | 平平: Deliberating and governing. See (Book of Documents).

  • Onyomi

    tip

    byoh(ビョウ) ビョウ

    hei(ヘイ) ヘイ

    hyoh(ヒョウ) ヒョウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    hira(ひら) ひら

    tai.rageru(たい-らげる) たい-らげる

    taira(たい-ら) たい-ら

  • Strokes

    tip

    5 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    干 (kan・ichiju・hosu)

  • Related Keywords

    flat peace ordinary fair level calm even average balance equal harmony horizontal plain quiet regular smooth stable steady tranquil

Sentences including 平

  • What a good teacher mr hirayama is !

  • We all wish for permanent world peace.

  • I don't care what people say.

  • She is always complaining of one thing or another.

  • Try to write in plain english.

  • He made a speech in connection with world peace.

  • We live in peace.

  • There is no one that does not long for world peace.

  • She does nothing but complain.

  • We will keep the peace at all costs.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 干 (kan・ichiju・hosu)

See all kanji with this radical →

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