漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons
王: king, rule
Also: magnate
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Shang Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
One reading, and the words that use it
オウou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 王様おうさまking
- 王国おうこくkingdom, monarchy
- 王者おうじゃking, monarch, ruler
- 王子おうじprince
- 王女おうじょprincess
- 女王じょおうqueen
- 法王ほうおうPope
- 帝王ていおうsovereign, emperor
- 石油王せきゆおうoil magnate
Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.
- 親王しんのうimperial prince
Also read -ノウ, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
Pictogram (象形) of a ritual axe made perhaps of jade, symbols of the king's power. A ceremonial axe was kept near the throne, and was used for performing rituals in ancient China.
Source: Wiktionary, 王 (rev. 94389091), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Treasure in your hand! Imagine holding a perfectly round, shimmering jade ball or a string of precious gems.”
Connections
王 gives its sound to
The family reading is オウ (ou). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
Also read -ノウ
1 kanji shares this on'yomiEasy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · wáng
Same form: 王 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 王 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 王 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin wáng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.