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Kanji Detail for 活 - "to live, lively"

  • Meaning

    活 means "to live, lively." Also associated with to revive.

    1. To revive - To save a life; to bring back to life.

    2. To live - To be alive; to have life; to exist.

    3. Lively - Vigorous; full of energy.

    4. Flowing - Water flowing energetically.

    5. Resuscitation - A method to restore consciousness; a way to revitalize.

  • Words using

    • 活動 かつどう Listen activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation
    • 生活 せいかつ Listen life; living; livelihood
    • 復活 ふっかつ Listen revival (of an old system, custom, fashion, etc.); restoration; return
    • 活性 かっせい Listen activity; active
    • 活躍 かつやく Listen activity (esp. energetic or successful); great efforts; active participation
    • 活用 かつよう Listen practical use; application; making good use of
    • 活力 かつりょく Listen vitality; energy; dynamism
    • 活動家 かつどうか Listen activist
  • Four-character idioms with

    • 明朗快活 めいろうかいかつ Listen cheerful and openhearted
    • 死中求活 しちゅうきゅうかつ Listen finding a way out of a potentially fatal situation; seeking a way out of a desperate situation
    • 活殺自在 かっさつじざい Listen the power of life or death
    • 活溌溌地 かっぱつはっち Listen being full of vitality (energy); vigorous and in high spirits
    • 耐乏生活 たいぼうせいかつ Listen hard life; life of austerity
  • Tattoo check:

    • Verified meaning: to live, lively
    • Official Jōyō kanji — a standard character every Japanese reader recognises
    • Used in real Japanese given names (read いき, いくる, かつ, かつじ)
    • Also carries these associations: to revive

    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

    Given names (いき)Listen (かつ)Listen

    Surnames (いくる)Listen (かつじ)Listen

  • Dictionary Citations

    The meaning above is based on the following sources:

    KANJIDIC2 A comprehensive Japanese-English kanji dictionary

    lively; resuscitation; being helped; living

    Unihan Unicode Han Database for CJK characters

    live, exist, survive; lively

    CC-CEDICT A Chinese-English dictionary

    to live; alive; living; work; workmanship

    Make Me a Hanzi Open-source Chinese character data

    to exist, to live, to survive; living, working

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

    To live. All matters of sustaining life are called 生活 (livelihood). As in "standard of living" (生活程度). Work is also called 生活, meaning earning wages to support oneself. | Lively is called 活. As in 活潑 (vivid). | Something with changes that is not fixed is called 活. As in flexible disbursement of funds (活支), meaning withdrawing at any time without predetermined amounts.
  • Onyomi

    tip
  • Kunyomi

    tip
  • Strokes

    tip
  • Radical

    tip
  • Related Keywords

Sentences including

  • I don't want to lead a dog's life any more.

  • How are things for you up there?

  • She lived a lonely life.

  • He lived an unhappy life.

  • His secret life came to light at last.

  • Make the most of your college life.

  • His life is free from care.

  • His baseball life ended then.

  • I think it possible for man to live on the moon.

  • He got accustomed to the new way of living.

Sentences from Japanese classical masterpieces

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