漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
明: bright, light
日 carries the meaning · 月 is drawn in
Seven readings, and the words that use each
メイmei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 証明するしょうめいするprove
- 説明するせつめいするexplain
- 賢明なけんめいなwise
- 明治めいじMeiji era
ミョウmyou · on'yomi
- 明晩みょうばんtomorrow evening
あかるいakarui · kun'yomi · on its own
- 明るいあかるいbright, cheerful
あからむakaramu · kun'yomi
- 明らむあからむbecome luminous
あきらかakiraka · kun'yomi
- 明らかなあきらかなobvious
-あけ-ake · kun'yomi
- 夜明けよあけdawn
あくるakuru · kun'yomi
- 明くる日あくるひfollowing day
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 明後日あさってday after tomorrow
- 明日あした/あすtomorrow
Also read ミン, あかり, あかるむ, あける, あく, あかす, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)日 sun + 月 moon
The sun just rising and the moon not yet set – dawn (天明). In the oracle bone script it is mostly "daybreak"; a few instances mean "sight" or are a place name.
Source: Wiktionary, 明 (rev. 93411198), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Sun + moon (月) = the two greatest sources of light in the world joining forces to create brilliance.”
Connections
Also read メイ
8 kanji share this on'yomiAlso read ミョウ
7 kanji share this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · míng
Same form: 明 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 明 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 明 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin míng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.