Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Textiles, Plants & Food

薫: send forth fragrance, fragrant

Also: be scented, smoke (tobacco)

JLPT N116 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

艹 carries the meaning · 襄 gives the sound

16 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

One reading, and the words that use it

クンkun · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 薫くんpleasant smell; aroma; fragrance
  • 薫香くんこうincense; fragrance
  • 薫製くんせいsmoked food; smoking (fish, meat, etc.)

Also read かおる, 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

“Grass growing on top! Like a green crown upon the earth, this radical sits above kanji related to flowers, herbs, and vegetation.”
More in the 艹 grass story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
艹

Also built on grass (艹)

All 74

Also read クン

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
薫 send forth fragrance · 艹 + 襄
vs勲 meritorious deed · 動 + 灬
薫 has 艹 + 襄 where 勲 has 動 + 灬.
In ChineseA Japanese form · Chinese writes 薰 · xūn

薫 is a Japanese simplification. Chinese writes 薰 in both simplified and traditional script.

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

Pinyin xūn 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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