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Kanji Detail for 武 - "military, war"

武

  • Meaning

    武 means "military, war." Also associated with brave.

    1. Military - Related to warfare; martial.

    2. Brave - Courageous; valiant.

    3. War - Armed conflict; battle.

    4. Warrior - A fighter; a soldier.

  • Words using 武

    • 武力 ぶりょく Listen armed might; military power; the sword
    • 武器 ぶき Listen weapon; arms; ordnance
    • 武装 ぶそう Listen arms; armament; taking up arms
    • 武道 ぶどう Listen martial arts; military arts; Bushido
    • 武士 ぶし Listen samurai; warrior
    • 核武装 かくぶそう Listen nuclear arms
    • 武者 むしゃ Listen warrior
    • 武将 ぶしょう Listen military commander

  • Four-character idioms with 武

    • 武者修行 むしゃしゅぎょう Listen traveling about to gain skill in combat (travelling)
    • 允文允武 いんぶんいんぶ Listen being versed in the literary and military arts
    • 我武者羅 がむしゃら Listen reckless; daredevil; frantic
    • 文武不岐 ぶんぶふき Listen scholarship and swordsmanship are one and the same; the literary and the military are the same path
    • 文武両道 ぶんぶりょうどう Listen being accomplished in both the literary and military arts; doing well in both school and sports
    • 文武兼備 ぶんぶけんび Listen well up in both literary and military (martial) arts; well skilled in wielding both the sword and the pen

  • Origin of 武

    戈, the halberd, with 止, the foot: to advance under arms. Classical commentators loved its second reading — 止 as "stop": true martiality is the power that stops the spear.

    How to remember it: A spear 戈 and a foot 止 — marching to war, or planting the foot that stops it: both readings live in budō.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 武

    • Verified meaning: military, war
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read いさむ, う, たかし, たかたけ)
    • Also carries these associations: brave

    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 武

    Given names 武(いさむ)Listen 武(たかし)Listen 武(たけ)Listen 武(たけし)Listen

    Surnames 武(う)Listen 武(たかたけ)Listen 武(たけさき)Listen 武(たけざき)Listen 武(たけじ)Listen 武(たけすえ)Listen 武(たけつぐ)Listen 武(たけまつ)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

    warrior; military; chivalry; arms

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    military; martial, warlike

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Wu

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    military; martial, warlike

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

    The opposite of civil (文). All things using force to subdue others are called 武 (martial). | Footprints. As in continuing a predecessor's achievements is called 步武 (following in footsteps), meaning to follow.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    bu(ブ) ブ

    mu(ム) ム

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    take(たけ) たけ

    takeshi(たけ-し) たけ-し

  • Strokes

    tip

    8 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    止 (tomeru・tomehen)

  • Related Keywords

    military brave war warrior strong and fierce succeed trace unit of measurement martial arts armor army battle bold combat courage daring fearless fighter forces gallant heroic honor powerful samurai soldier strategy strength sword tactics valiant troops

Sentences including 武

  • Tears are a child's weapon.

  • They are all in arms.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 止 (tomeru・tomehen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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