漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
能: ability, talent
Also: skill, capacity
- 䏍(form)
- 匕spoon(form)
䏍 and 匕 are drawn in
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Warring States Today
Oracle bone: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, traced from Academia Sinica, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
One reading, and the words that use it
ノウnou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 能のうtalent, Noh drama
- 能面のうめんNoh mask
- 能力のうりょくability
- 能率のうりつefficiency
- 才能さいのうtalent
- 本能ほんのうinstinct
- 機能きのうfunction
- 万能なばんのうなall-purpose
- 有能なゆうのうなcapable, skillful
- 芸能人げいのうじんcelebrity
- 可能性かのうせいpotentiality, possibility
- 放射能ほうしゃのうradioactivity
Also read よく, あたう, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Pictogram (象形)
A bear. In the character, two paws are visible as a pair of 匕 and the face with the open mouth is stylized as 月.
Source: Wiktionary, 能 (rev. 93546319), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“It looks like the moon, but it's actually muscle! When you see this "moon" on the left side of a character, don't think of the night sky—think of your own body.”
Connections
Also read ノウ
5 kanji share this on'yomiIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · néng
Same form: 能 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 能 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 能 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin néng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.