Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

妹: younger sister

JLPT N48 strokesGrade 2Your ink: 白 Not met

女 carries the meaning · 未 gives the sound

8 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Bronze · Western Zhou
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze and small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Two readings, and the words that use each

マイmai · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 姉妹しまいsisters
  • 姉妹校しまいこうsister school
  • 弟妹ていまいyounger brother and sister
  • 義妹ぎまいsister-in-law (spouse's younger sister or…

いもうとimouto · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 妹いもうとone's own younger sister

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 従姉妹いとこcousin (female)

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0 · JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Grace and strength! This is the radical of the feminine, representing mothers, daughters, and the many roles women have played throughout history.”
More in the 女 woman story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
女

Also built on woman (女)

All 38
未

Also built on un- (未)

The 未 family reads ミ (mi); 妹 is read マイ.

Also read マイ

5 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
妹 younger sister · 未
vs委 committee · 禾
妹 has 未 where 委 has 禾.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · mèi

Same form: 妹 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
妹 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
妹 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin mèi most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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