Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

膝: knee, lap

N1 (our estimate)15 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

月 carries the meaning · 木 and 氺 are drawn in

15 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

ひざhiza · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 膝ひざknee
  • 膝頭ひざがしらkneecap
  • 片膝かたひざone knee

Also read シツ, with no example words in our sources. Words: 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

“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.”
More in the 月 meat story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
月

Also built on meat (月)

All 63
木

Also built on tree (木)

All 124
氺

Also built on water (氺)

All 5

Also read シツ

10 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
膝 knee · 月
vs様 Esq. · 羊
膝 has 月 where 様 has 羊.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xī

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

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

Pinyin xī most common reading

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

One click tells us. No sign-up.