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Kanji Detail for 恋 - "to yearn, love"

恋

  • Meaning

    恋 means "to yearn, love." Also associated with strongly attracted.

    1. To yearn - Strongly drawn to; unable to forget.

    2. Love - The feeling of yearning for someone.

  • Words using 恋

    • 恋人 こいびと Listen lover; sweetheart; boyfriend
    • 恋愛 れんあい Listen love; romance; tender passion
    • 初恋 はつこい Listen first love; puppy love
    • 失恋 しつれん Listen disappointed love; broken heart; unrequited love
    • 恋しい こいしい Listen yearned for; longed for; missed
    • 恋する こいする Listen to fall in love (with); to love

  • Four-character idioms with 恋

    • 籠鳥恋雲 ろうちょうれんうん Listen longing for freedom when tied down

  • Origin of 恋

    The old form 戀 sets the heart 心 beneath 龻 — threads hopelessly entangled: a heart caught in tangled thread. The modern form keeps the heart under a knotted crown. Longing was drawn as entanglement from the start.

    How to remember it: A heart 心 under a tangle of threads — love that knots itself and will not come loose: longing.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 恋

    • Verified meaning: to yearn, love
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read こい, ここ, こころ, こゆる)
    • Also carries these associations: strongly attracted

    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 恋

    Given names 恋(こい)Listen 恋(ここ)Listen 恋(こころ)Listen 恋(こゆる)Listen 恋(れん)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

    romance; in love; yearn for; miss; darling

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    love; long for, yearn for; love

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    to feel attached to; to long for; to love

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    love; to yearn for, to long for

  • Onyomi

    tip

    ren(レン) レン

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    koi(こい) こい

    koi.shii(こい-しい) こい-しい

    kou(こう) こう

  • Strokes

    tip

    10 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    心 忄 (kokoro・shitagokoro・risshimben)

  • Related Keywords

    to yearn love strongly attracted affection romance adoration attraction courtship desire devotion fondness infatuation passion tenderness yearning

Sentences including 恋

  • I'll miss you so much.

  • He is in love with her.

  • I'm so proud to know that she's mine.

  • He fell in love with her.

  • You are too young to be in love.

  • She is my girlfriend.

  • She has come to know something like love.

  • I love her.

  • They are sure to fall in love.

  • That man is in love with my sister.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 心 忄 (kokoro・shitagokoro・risshimben)

See all kanji with this radical →

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