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Kanji Detail for 書 - "to write, book, letter"

書

  • Meaning

    書 means "to write, book, letter."

    1. Write - To form letters or characters.

    2. Book - A written work.

    3. Letter - Written correspondence.

    4. Document - A written record.

  • Words using 書

    • 書記 しょき Listen clerk; secretary; writing down
    • 文書 ぶんしょ Listen document; writing; letter
    • 秘書 ひしょ Listen (private) secretary; treasured book; secret book
    • 報告書 ほうこくしょ Listen (written) report
    • 書店 しょてん Listen bookshop; bookstore
    • 白書 はくしょ Listen white paper (government report)
    • 著書 ちょしょ Listen (written) work; book; writings
    • 教科書 きょうかしょ Listen textbook; coursebook; schoolbook

  • Four-character idioms with 書

    • 六法全書 ろっぽうぜんしょ Listen compendium of laws; statute books
    • 四書五経 ししょごきょう Listen the Four Books and Five Classics of Confucianism; the Nine Chinese Classics
    • 書画骨董 しょがこっとう Listen curios and objets d'art
    • 焚書坑儒 ふんしょこうじゅ Listen burning books on the Chinese classics and burying Confucian scholars alive (Qin dynasty thought suppression campaign)
    • 特筆大書 とくひつたいしょ Listen (printed or written in) large letters
    • 読書三余 どくしょさんよ Listen winter, night, and rainy weather; the ideal conditions for reading

  • Tattoo check: 書

    • Verified meaning: to write, book, letter
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises

    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.

  • 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

    write

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    book, letter, document; writings

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    abbr. for 書經|书经[Shu1 jing1]

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    book, letter, document; writing

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

    To record things in writing is called 書. Such as 書籍 (books). | To write, record. From "Analerta": "Zizhang wrote it on his sash." | Letters. Such as 上書 (memorial), 奉書 (letter of respect). | Characters, script. Such as regular, cursive, seal, and clerical scripts are called 書體 (calligraphy styles). The method of writing characters is called 書法 (calligraphy). One skilled in calligraphy is called 書家 (calligrapher). | A classic name. Recording the political affairs of Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. This is the "Book of Documents." Also called 書經.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    sho(ショ) ショ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    gaki(がき) がき

    ka.ku(かく) かく

  • Strokes

    tip

    10 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    曰 (iwaku・hirabi)

  • Related Keywords

    to write book letter characters document literature writing calligraphy manuscript inscription record compose correspondence

Sentences including 書

  • Was she able to write a report?

  • The report was sent within the same day.

  • My father stopped reading to have lunch.

  • I cannot do without this dictionary.

  • She bought a dictionary for her sister.

  • Students have access to the library.

  • He never fails to write home once a month.

  • I read the most interesting book in my library.

  • Are you going to write to your father?

  • I have no money to buy the dictionary with.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 曰 (iwaku・hirabi)

See all kanji with this radical →

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