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Kanji Detail for 小 - "small, young person"

小

  • Meaning

    小 means "small, young person." Also associated with trivial.

    1. Small - Little in size; small in degree; few in number or quantity.

    2. Trivial - Insignificant; of little importance.

    3. Young person - Someone young or immature.

    4. Humble term - A word used to modestly refer to oneself.

    5. Prefix - A prefix meaning "small" or "slight," or used to adjust the tone of words.

  • Words using 小

    • 小選挙区 しょうせんきょく Listen small electoral district; single-member constituency
    • 小説 しょうせつ Listen novel; story; (work of) fiction
    • 小学校 しょうがっこう Listen primary school; elementary school; grade school
    • 小学生 しょうがくせい Listen elementary school student; primary school student; grade school student
    • 中小企業 ちゅうしょうきぎょう Listen small and medium-sized enterprises; small and medium-sized businesses
    • 小型 こがた Listen small-sized; small-scale; miniature
    • 小学 しょうがく Listen elementary school; primary school; grade school
    • 小島 こじま Listen small island; islet

  • Four-character idioms with 小

    • 過小評価 かしょうひょうか Listen underestimation; undervaluation
    • 大同小異 だいどうしょうい Listen essentially the same with only minor differences
    • 小人閑居 しょうじんかんきょ Listen a small-minded person being idle (tends to do evil)
    • 小国寡民 しょうこくかみん Listen small country with a small population (The Chinese philosopher Lao-tze's ideal of a state)
    • 小春日和 こはるびより Listen Indian summer (around November); mild late autumn weather; mild late fall weather
    • 胆大心小 たんだいしんしょう Listen being bold and courageous, but also careful and meticulous

  • Origin of 小

    A thing split away by two flanking strokes — slivers falling from a center. Small is what remains when the rest has been pared off.

    How to remember it: A sliver with two shavings falling beside it — small.

    Sources: en.wiktionary.org · mojinavi.com

  • Tattoo check: 小

    • Verified meaning: small, young person
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read おかい, おがい, おかゆ, おがゆ)
    • Also carries these associations: trivial

    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 小

    Surnames 小(おかい)Listen 小(おがい)Listen 小(おかゆ)Listen 小(おがゆ)Listen 小(おさき)Listen 小(おざき)Listen 小(おしお)Listen 小(おじお)Listen 小(おはま)Listen 小(おばま)Listen 小(おみね)Listen 小(おやなぎ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    little; small

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    small, tiny, insignificant

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    small; tiny; few; young

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    small, tiny, insignificant

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

    Fine; tiny. Opposite of 大. | Narrow. Such as 器小易盈. | To belittle. Such as 未免小視, meaning regarding as insignificant.

  • Onyomi

    tip

    shoh(ショウ) ショウ

  • Kunyomi

    tip

    chiisa.i(ちい-さい) ちい-さい

    ko(こ) こ

    o(お) お

    sa(さ) さ

  • Strokes

    tip

    3 strokes

  • Radical

    tip

    小 (sho・shogashira・naogashira)

  • Related Keywords

    small trivial young person humble term insignificant prefix little tiny compact dainty diminutive few immature lilliputian microscopic miniature minor minuscule minute nano petite pint-sized puny slight undersized wee

Sentences including 小

  • In comparison with tokyo , london is small.

  • Do you have any small change?

  • You cannot read this novel without crying.

  • That small one is also mine.

  • My brother lives in a small village.

  • The job will take a minimum of ten days.

  • We found a poor little cat in the yard.

  • This screwdriver is too small to be any use.

  • The success of her novel made her rich.

  • She spoke to me in a whisper.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

More kanji with the radical 小 (sho・shogashira・naogashira)

See all kanji with this radical →

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