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Barbarian

On’yomi
Kun’yomiえびす・えみし・ころ.す・たい.らげる
MeaningsBarbarian, Savage, Ainu
6 strokes #2262 most common Name kanji Radical big
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 夷

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

6 strokes
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分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 夷

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

部首 · Radical

The radical of 夷

Radical 37 of 214
Big

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 夷 is filed under (big) — radical number 37 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 大

練習 · Practice

Drill 夷 right now

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

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Barbarian い えびす・えみし・ころ.す・たい.らげる
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熟語 · In real words

Words that use 夷

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.

蝦夷 えみし Emishi; Ezo; non-Yamato peoples in northern Japan
攘夷 じょうい expulsion of foreigners
夷人 イジン barbarian, savage; foreigner
東夷 アズマエビス eastern barbarians
四夷 シイ Four Barbarians
武夷 ブイ buoy; lifebuoy
焼夷 ショーイ burning (something) away, burning (something) down
華夷 カイ China and foreign countries (from the perspective of China), civilized land and uncivilize
荒夷 アラエビス crude warrior from the eastern parts of Japan, wild man
征夷 セーイ defeating barbarians (esp. the Emishi), conquering barbarians
名乗り · Name readings

How 夷 is read in names

Japanese names use readings that appear nowhere else in the language. These are 夷's — the reason personal and place names are so hard to read even for native speakers.

同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 夷

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

画数 · 6 strokes

Other 6-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

夷 is the 2262nd 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 夷

What does the kanji 夷 mean?

夷 means Barbarian, Savage, Ainu. It is the 2262nd most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 夷?

夷 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) い; kun'yomi (native Japanese) えびす、えみし、ころ.す、たい.らげる.

How many strokes does 夷 have?

夷 is written with 6 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 夷?

Japanese schoolchildren learn it in name kanji.

What is the radical of 夷?

The radical of 夷 is 大 (big), radical number 37 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 parts is the kanji 夷 made of?

夷 is built from 大 (large) and 弓 (bow) and 大 (large). Learning kanji as combinations of a few hundred reusable components is far more efficient than memorising each character as a separate shape.

What words use the kanji 夷?

Common words written with 夷 include 蝦夷 (えみし, Emishi; Ezo; non-Yamato peoples in northern Japan); 攘夷 (じょうい, expulsion of foreigners); 夷人 (イジン, barbarian, savage; foreigner).

Which kanji sound the same as 夷?

夷 shares a reading with 意 (い), 以 (い), 委 (い), 位 (い), 違 (い), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

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