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Nickname

On’yomiごう
Kun’yomiさけ.ぶ・よびな
MeaningsNickname, Number, Item, Title, Pseudonym, Name
JLPT N3 5 strokes #576 most common Grade 3 Radical mouth
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 号

Stroke order is not decoration — it determines how the character looks handwritten and how dictionaries index it.

5 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 号

Almost every kanji is built from a small set of reusable parts. Learn the parts once and you stop memorising thousands of unrelated shapes.

radical mouth =
Nickname
部首 · Radical

The radical of 号

Radical 30 of 214
Mouth

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 号 is filed under (mouth) — radical number 30 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 口

練習 · Practice

Drill 号 right now

Three quick games built from this character's real data. Your streak is kept in this browser.

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Nickname ごう さけ.ぶ・よびな
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 号

Kanji are almost never met alone. These are the most common words built from this character, ordered by how often they actually appear in Japanese.

番号 ばんごう number; series of digits
信号 しんごう signal; signalling; signaling
記号 きごう sign; symbol; mark
背番号 せばんごう number on the back of a player's uniform; uniform number; shirt number
暗号 あんごう code; password; cipher
赤信号 あかしんごう red light (traffic); red light; signal to stop
称号 しょうごう title; name; degree
信号機 しんごうき traffic light; traffic signal; signal (mechanism)
信号器 しんごうき traffic light; traffic signal; signal (mechanism)
二号 にごう number two; mistress; concubine
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 号

Japanese has far more kanji than syllables, so one reading is shared by many characters. These are the ones you will confuse with 号 — learn them together, not separately.

画数 · 5 strokes

Other 5-stroke kanji

Useful when looking a character up by stroke count — and a common source of visual mix-ups.

頻度 · Frequency

Next in the frequency list

号 is the 576th most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

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質問 · Questions

About the kanji 号

What does the kanji 号 mean?

号 means Nickname, Number, Item, Title, Pseudonym, Name. It is the 576th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 号?

号 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) ごう; kun'yomi (native Japanese) さけ.ぶ、よびな.

How many strokes does 号 have?

号 is written with 5 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 号?

It appears at JLPT level N3, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 3.

What is the radical of 号?

The radical of 号 is 口 (mouth), radical number 30 of the 214 Kangxi radicals. The radical is the component a dictionary files the character under, and it usually points at the character's meaning.

What words use the kanji 号?

Common words written with 号 include 番号 (ばんごう, number; series of digits); 信号 (しんごう, signal; signalling; signaling); 記号 (きごう, sign; symbol; mark).

Which kanji sound the same as 号?

号 shares a reading with 合 (ごう), 業 (ごう), 強 (ごう), 郷 (ごう), 豪 (ごう), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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