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Kanji Detail for 音 - "sound, tidings"

音

  • Meaning

    音 means "sound, tidings." Also associated with verse.

    1. Sound - Vibrations of air and other substances perceived by the ear.

    2. Melody - A song or piece of music; musical composition.

    3. Tidings - News, messages, or correspondence from someone.

    4. On-yomi - The Chinese-derived pronunciation of kanji characters; the Sino-Japanese reading.

  • Words using 音

    • 音楽 おんがく Listen music
    • 本音 ほんね Listen real intention; motive; true opinion
    • 騒音 そうおん Listen noise; din
    • 音声 おんせい Listen voice; speech; sound of a voice
    • 録音 ろくおん Listen (audio) recording
    • 六十四分音符 ろくじゅうしぶおんぷ Listen 64th note; hemidemisemiquaver; semidemisemiquaver
    • 音響 おんきょう Listen sound; noise; audio
    • 音色 ねいろ Listen tone color; tone colour; tone quality

  • Four-character idioms with 音

    • 不協和音 ふきょうわおん Listen discord; dissonance; cacophony
    • 異口同音 いくどうおん Listen (saying) with one voice; unanimously; in chorus
    • 歌舞音曲 かぶおんぎょく Listen singing, dancing and music; (public) entertainment; performing arts
    • 音信不通 おんしんふつう Listen break in contact; not hearing from; having no communication with
    • 音吐朗朗 おんとろうろう Listen in a clear voice

  • Origin of 音

    言, the word, with a stroke added inside the mouth: a tone held where a word would be. Sound is speech before it splits into meanings.

    How to remember it: A word 言 with something extra caught in the mouth — not yet speech, already heard: sound.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 音

    • Verified meaning: sound, tidings
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read お, おと, おど, おん)
    • Also carries these associations: verse

    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 音

    Given names 音(おと)Listen 音(おん)Listen 音(ねおん)Listen 音(のん)Listen 音(ぴあの)Listen 音(みゅう)Listen 音(もね)Listen 音(りずむ)Listen

    Surnames 音(お)Listen 音(おど)Listen 音(とん)Listen 音(ねね)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    sound; noise

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation; Kangxi radical 180

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    sound; noise; note (of musical scale); tone; news; syllable; reading (phonetic value of a character)

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation

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

    Sound that has clarity, pitch, and rhythm when emitted. When sound forms patterns, it is called 音. Found in the Book of Rites.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    in(イン) イン

    non(ノン) ノン

    on(オン) オン

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    ne(ね) ね

    oto(おと) おと

  • Strokes

    tip

    9 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    音 (oto・otohen)

  • Related Keywords

    sound tidings verse melody noise on-yomi acoustic audio beep buzz cacophony chime clang echo harmony hiss hum music pitch resonance rhythm ring song speech tone tune vibration

Sentences including 音

  • My mother loves music.

  • I cannot put up with all that noise.

  • My boss says one thing and means another.

  • He became a great musician.

  • I have no ear for music.

  • John can't bear the noise.

  • They were not listening to music.

  • He listened to the music with his eyes closed.

  • The concert was well attended.

  • They heard him come downstairs.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 音 (oto・otohen)

See all kanji with this radical →

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