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Kanji Detail for 三 - "three, three times"

三

  • Meaning

    三 means "three, three times."

    1. Three - The number 3; three units.

    2. Three times - Three occurrences.

    3. Third - The third position; third in order.

    4. Many times - Repeatedly; again and again.

  • Words using 三

    • 三人 さんにん Listen three people
    • 十三 じゅうさん Listen thirteen; 13; king
    • 三つ みっつ Listen three; three years of age
    • 三十日 みそか Listen last day of the month
    • 三塁 さんるい Listen third base
    • 三役 さんやく Listen three highest ranks (wrestling, unions, etc.); three parts; three divisions
    • 三振 さんしん Listen strikeout
    • 再三 さいさん Listen again and again; repeatedly

  • Four-character idioms with 三

    • 三三五五 さんさんごご Listen in groups of twos and threes; in small groups
    • 三位一体 さんみいったい Listen the Trinity; three parts; three components
    • 二人三脚 ににんさんきゃく Listen three-legged race; cooperation with singleness of purpose (e.g. between companies); operating in tandem
    • 一唱三嘆 いっしょうさんたん Listen one reading (of a poem aloud) leaves one with ceaseless sighs of admiration
    • 一日三秋 いちじつさんしゅう Listen (waiting) impatiently; (spending) many a weary day; each moment seeming like an eternity
    • 一行三昧 いちぎょうざんまい Listen complete concentration on one subject (usu. prayer); one-practice absorption

  • Origin of 三

    Three tally strokes — read since antiquity as heaven, humanity and earth stacked in order.

    How to remember it: Three lines: heaven above, earth below, and us in the middle.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 三

    • Verified meaning: three, three times
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read さん, さんじ, ぞう, みさき)

    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 三

    Given names 三(さん)Listen 三(ぞう)Listen 三(みたる)Listen 三(みつ)Listen

    Surnames 三(さんじ)Listen 三(みさき)Listen 三(みすぎ)Listen 三(みつぎ)Listen 三(みつさき)Listen 三(みつざき)Listen 三(みつじ)Listen 三(みよし)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    three

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    three

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    surname San

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    three

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

    A number name. | Emphatic; certainly. Like the colloquial 再三 (again and again). (Analerta) "Nan Rong repeated the white jade verse three times."

  • Onyomi

    tip

    san(サン) サン

    zoh(ゾウ) ゾウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    mi(み) み

    mi.tsu(み-つ) み-つ

    mi.ttsu(み-っつ) み-っつ

  • Strokes

    tip

    3 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    一 (ichi)

  • Related Keywords

    three three times third thrice frequently number triad triangle trinity trio triple

Sentences including 三

  • He is leaving in three days.

  • He came to tokyo at the age of three.

  • Take this medicine for your cold three times a day.

  • My aunt has three children.

  • Three cheers for the team.

  • Three years have passed since he died.

  • I did not live in sanda last year.

  • The student missed class three times in a row.

  • She has three brothers.

  • Japanese eat three meals a day.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 一 (ichi)

See all kanji with this radical →

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