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Kanji Detail for 甲 - "first, armor, shell"

  • Meaning

    甲 means "first, armor, shell."

    1. First - The first in order or rank.

    2. Shell - Turtle shell; hard outer covering.

    3. Armor - Helmet; protective gear. e.g., 甲冑.

    4. Wood, East - In five elements, wood; in direction, east.

    5. High pitch - A high tone of voice.

  • Words using

    • 装甲 そうこう Listen armoring; armouring; armor
    • 甲板 かんぱん Listen deck (of a ship)
    • 甲状腺 こうじょうせん Listen thyroid (gland)
    • 甲子園 こうしえん Listen Koshien Stadium (baseball park in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture); National High School Baseball Tournament (held annually in August at Koshien Stadium); Summer Koshien
  • Four-character idioms with

    • 甲論乙駁 こうろんおつばく Listen arguments pro and con
  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: first, armor, shell
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read かぶと, かぶときのえ, きね, きのえ)

    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

    Given names (きのえ)Listen (こう)Listen (はじめ)Listen (まさる)Listen

    Surnames (かぶと)Listen (かぶときのえ)Listen (きね)Listen (こうざき)Listen (しん)Listen (よろい)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    armor; high (voice); A grade; first class; former; instep; carapace

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    armor, shell; fingernails; 1st heavenly stem

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]; (used for an unspecified person or thing); first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc); letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc; armor plating; shell or carapace; (of the fingers or toes) nail; bladed leather or metal armor (old); ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old); civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bao3 jia3] system (old); ancient Chinese compass point: 75°

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    armor, shell; fingernails; 1st heavenly stem

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

    The first position of the ten Heavenly Stems. Anciently the ten stems were used to record sequence. Hence what is called first is all called 甲. Such as saying 富甲一鄉. Meaning to be the richest in a village. | A pronoun. When assuming a name for convenient reference, characters like 甲乙丙丁 are often used to substitute. Such as calling an unknown person 某甲 (so-and-so). | In imperial examinations, the palace examination ranked successful candidates as first, second, and third 甲 (rank). Hence the successful candidate list is called 甲榜 (first-rank list). The first rank had only the top scholar, second-place, and third-place, three people. Called 鼎甲 (tripod rank). | In the past, clothing worn during war. To protect against weapons. Made of leather or iron plates. | Insects with hard shells. Such as 龜甲 (tortoise shell), 鱉甲 (turtle shell). | 保甲 (local security system). Registering and checking household populations. Its method began with Wang Anshi of Song.
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • You make life worth living.

  • That was well worth the trouble.

  • I have nothing to live for.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

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