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Kanji Detail for 賀 - "to congratulate, to celebrate"

  • Meaning

    賀 means "to congratulate, to celebrate." Also associated with to praise.

    1. Congratulate - To express joy at success; to celebrate.

    2. Celebrate - To honor with festivities; to rejoice.

    3. Praise - To commend; to express approval.

  • Words using

    • 祝賀 しゅくが Listen celebration; congratulations
    • 年賀状 ねんがじょう Listen New Year's card
    • 年賀 ねんが Listen New Year's greetings; New Year's call; New Year's gift
    • 謹賀新年 きんがしんねん Listen Happy New Year
  • Origin of

    加, "to add", over 貝, shell-money: gifts piled on to mark an occasion. Congratulation drawn as presents heaped up — the 賀 of New Year's 年賀.

    How to remember it: Gifts 貝 added 加 to the pile for the happy day — congratulations.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: to congratulate, to celebrate
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read いわい, が, ほう, よし)
    • Also carries these associations: to praise

    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

    Surnames (いわい)Listen ()Listen (ほう)Listen (よし)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    congratulations; joy

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    congratulate; send present

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname He

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    to congratulate; to send a present

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

    To celebrate with ritual gifts. Such as 賀禮 (congratulatory gift). Today congratulating is also called 稱賀 (offer congratulations). Expressing congratulations for someone's joyous occasion is called 道賀 (express congratulations).
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
    none
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

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