One of the best Japanese Kanji dictionary.

Share this page

Kanji Detail for 要 - "need, essential, important"

  • Meaning

    要 means "need, essential, important."

    1. Need - To require; to want.

    2. Essential - Important; vital.

    3. Summarize - To condense; to conclude.

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    need; main point; essence; pivot; key to

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    necessary, essential; necessity

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    (bound form) to demand; to coerce

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    essential, necessary; to ask for; to coerce; to demand

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

    To request. Mencius says "Cultivate heavenly honors to seek human honors." Commonly also means requesting things is called 要. | A promise or covenant. The Analects says "Long-standing promises are not forgotten." | Same as 腰 (waist). Anciently the character for waist was written as 要. | Getting to the core of matters is called 要. Such as 要義 (essential meaning), 要害 (vital point), 提要 (summary), 綱要 (outline). | An auxiliary word. The meaning of summarizing.
  • Onyomitip
  • Kunyomitip
  • Strokestip
  • Radicaltip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • He needs to answer the question.

  • You need not answer the letter.

  • You don't have to work on sundays.

  • You don't have to pay attention to what he says.

  • The company was in want of money.

  • I must put my ideas together before i take up a pen.

  • You don't have to hurry.

  • There's no need to speak so loud.

  • We hardly realize how important it is.

  • My bicycle needs fixing.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

Share this link via

Or copy link