Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Japanese system of writing based on borrowed or modified Chinese characters.
  • noun A character used in this system of writing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Chinese characters as used for the Japanese language.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Japanese : kan, Chinese (from Middle Chinese xan`); see Han + ji, character (from Middle Chinese dzɨh; also the source of Mandarin and akin to Mandarin , child, since certain characters were said to be derived from simpler characters, and ultimately derived from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa, child; akin to Tibetan tsha, grandchild).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Romanization of Japanese 漢字 (かんじ) (literally “Chinese characters”), from the Mandarin Chinese 漢字 (hànzì).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kanji.

Examples

  • On the train, use in-car electronic signs (often in kanji, kana, and romaji), route diagrams, announcements in Japanese and sometimes English, platform signs at the stations you pass, and/or the map clutched in your sweaty paw to track your progress.

    9/4/07: How to take the train in Tokyo 2007

  • If that doesn't tip us off, the header written in Japanese kanji should!

    Dan Dubno: Post-Madoff: The Final Insult 2009

  • In a moment, those words filled a cartoon-style balloon, were printed out first in Japanese kanji, and then in English letters.

    Black Blade Lustbader, Eric Van 1992

  • In Japan, an iPhone game called kanji kentei - a character quiz with

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Mar 18th, 2010 at 10: 36 am ceh: not to be an asshole, but kanji is the japanese term for “chinese characters.”

    Woorijip Now Serving “Korean Fried Chicken” | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2010

  • Just in case you can’t read, the kanji is “heart”.

    It was all an act! 2008

  • Written Japanese also uses Chinese characters called kanji, but these aren't covered on the disc.

    Speaking Their Language 2008

  • The name and menu are written in Japanese kanji rather than Western letters, in a large, easy-to-read font.

    The Economist: Daily news and views 2011

  • The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: modified Chinese characters called kanji (漢字), and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana (平仮名) and katakana (片仮名).

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: modified Chinese characters called kanji (漢字), and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana (平仮名) and katakana (片仮名).

    WN.com - Business News 2010

  • In principle, the government seeks to choose a name that is composed of two Chinese characters, or kanji in Japanese, and carries a positive meaning appropriate to the ideals of the people.

    Japan's new era named "Reiwa," 1st from native source KYODO NEWS 2019

  • Words rendered in katakana (as opposed to hiragana script and kanji characters, which are used to write traditional Japanese words) resemble transliterations of English – “negurekuto” for neglect, “fōrin wākāzu” for foreign workers – and to Japanese ears they are “milder, more euphemistic” than traditional kanji words, and can avoid “discriminatory turns of phrase”.

    Author Rie Qudan: Why I used ChatGPT to write my prize-winning novel John Self 2025

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • ideograph

    May 19, 2009

  • I believe 'kan' means "ancient Chinese" 'ji' means "character, letter"

    July 16, 2009

  • 'All the words'? Only if our available fonts include all these characters.

    November 21, 2009

  • The original Wordnik mandate had an implied "English" in there ... so "All the (English) words." We'll get to all the other languages eventually, provided they form an orderly queue. :-)

    November 21, 2009