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Kanji Detail for 衛 - "guard, protect, defense"

衛

  • Meaning

    衛 means "guard, protect, defense."

    1. Guard - To protect; to defend.

    2. Defense - Protection; a guardian.

    3. Manage - To operate; to run.

    4. Border - The frontier; the edge of a country.

  • Words using 衛

    • 防衛 ぼうえい Listen defense; defence; protection
    • 自衛隊 じえいたい Listen Japan Self-Defense Forces; JSDF; self-defence force
    • 衛星 えいせい Listen (natural) satellite; moon; (artificial) satellite
    • 防衛庁 ぼうえいちょう Listen Japan Defense Agency (became Ministry of Defense in January 2007)
    • 衛生 えいせい Listen hygiene; sanitation; cleanliness
    • 自衛 じえい Listen self-defense; self-defence
    • 自衛官 じえいかん Listen Japanese Self-Defense Force official; Self-Defense Force official
    • 陸上自衛隊 りくじょうじえいたい Listen Japan Ground Self-Defense Force; JGSDF

  • Four-character idioms with 衛

    • 正当防衛 せいとうぼうえい Listen legitimate self-defence; legitimate self-defense
    • 過剰防衛 かじょうぼうえい Listen excessive or unjustifiable self-defense (defence)

  • Tattoo check: 衛

    • Verified meaning: guard, protect, defense
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read うえい, えい, まもり, まもる)

    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 衛

    Given names 衛(えい)Listen 衛(まもり)Listen 衛(まもる)Listen

    Surnames 衛(うえい)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

    defense; protection

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    guard, protect, defend

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname Wei; vassal state during the Zhou Dynasty (1066–221 BC), located in present-day Henan and Hebei Provinces

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    to guard, to protect, to defend

  • Onyomi

    tip

    e(エ) エ

    ei(エイ) エイ

  • Kunyomi

    tip
    none

  • Strokes

    tip

    16 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    行 (gyo・gyogamae・yukigamae)

  • Related Keywords

    guard protect defense border defend armor barricade bulwark cover escort fortify garrison keep preserve screen secure security sentinel shelter shield ward

Sentences including 衛

More kanji with the radical 行 (gyo・gyogamae・yukigamae)

See all kanji with this radical →

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