Nihoner
漢字 Kanji list Games
Log in Play Kanji Duel

Authority

On’yomiけん・ごん
Kun’yomiおもり・かり・はか.る
MeaningsAuthority, Power, Rights
JLPT N3 15 strokes #155 most common Grade 6 Radical tree
書き順 · Stroke order

How to write 権

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

15 strokes
✎ Now write it yourself

Draw it on screen and be marked on stroke order and direction.

分解 · What it is made of

The parts of 権

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 tree =
Authority
Why it sounds the way it does. The part 雚V is the phonetic component — it carries the sound rather than the meaning. That is why 権 is read けん. Roughly two-thirds of all kanji work this way, which makes unfamiliar readings guessable once you spot the pattern.
部首 · Radical

The radical of 権

Radical 75 of 214
Tree

The radical is the part a paper dictionary files a kanji under, and it usually hints at meaning. 権 is filed under (tree) — radical number 75 of the 214 in the Kangxi system.

Other kanji built on 木

練習 · Practice

Drill 権 right now

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

0Streak
0Best
0Correct
Tap to reveal
Authority けん・ごん おもり・かり・はか.る
What does it mean?
Which kanji is it?
熟語 · In real words

Words that use 権

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.

政権 せいけん (political) administration; political power
選手権 せんしゅけん championship; title (of champion); championship game
人権 じんけん human rights; civil liberties
権力 けんりょく (political) power; authority; influence
権利 けんり right; privilege
権限 けんげん power; authority; jurisdiction
債権 さいけん credit; claim
有権者 ゆうけんしゃ (eligible) voter; elector; constituent
主権 しゅけん sovereignty; supremacy; dominion
権威 けんい authority; power; influence
同音 · Sound-alikes

Kanji that sound like 権

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

画数 · 15 strokes

Other 15-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

権 is the 155th most common kanji in written Japanese. Learning in frequency order is the fastest route to reading real text.

Think you know which kanji is more common?

Kanji Duel pits 権 and 3,000 others head to head. One life. How long can you last?

Enter the Duel →
質問 · Questions

About the kanji 権

What does the kanji 権 mean?

権 means Authority, Power, Rights. It is the 155th most common kanji in written Japanese.

How do you read the kanji 権?

権 is read on'yomi (Chinese-derived) けん、ごん; kun'yomi (native Japanese) おもり、かり、はか.る.

How many strokes does 権 have?

権 is written with 15 strokes. The animated diagram on this page shows the correct order.

What level is the kanji 権?

It appears at JLPT level N3, and Japanese schoolchildren learn it in grade 6.

What is the radical of 権?

The radical of 権 is 木 (tree), radical number 75 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.

Why is 権 read けん?

権 contains 雚V as its phonetic component — the part that carries the sound rather than the meaning, which is why 権 is read けん. Roughly two-thirds of all kanji are built this way, so spotting the phonetic component often lets you guess the reading of a character you have never seen.

What words use the kanji 権?

Common words written with 権 include 政権 (せいけん, (political) administration; political power); 選手権 (せんしゅけん, championship; title (of champion); championship game); 人権 (じんけん, human rights; civil liberties).

Which kanji sound the same as 権?

権 shares a reading with 見 (けん), 間 (けん), 言 (ごん), 県 (けん), 件 (けん), among others. Same-sounding kanji are one of the most common sources of confusion in Japanese.

None of this is being saved

Signed in, we would remember every character you have looked at — and write you reading you can actually get through, built from exactly those.

Start remembering — free
Free account · 3 passages a day · no card