Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Animals & Wildlife

蛇: snake, serpent

Also: hard drinker

JLPT N111 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

虫 carries the meaning · 它 gives the sound

11 strokes
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

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

Three readings, and the words that use each

ジャja · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 蛇口じゃぐちfaucet; tap
  • 蛇の目じゃのめbull's-eye (pattern); double ring (pattern)
  • 大蛇だいじゃbig snake; (large) serpent

ダda · on'yomi

  • 蛇行だこうmeandering; snaking; zigzagging
  • 長蛇の列ちょうだのれつlong line; long queue

へびhebi · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 蛇へびsnake

Also read イ, ヤ, 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

“A wriggly creature moves through the grass! The top part is the head, and the body curves below.”
More in the 虫 insect story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
虫

Also built on insect (虫)

All 15

Also read ジャ

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read ダ

8 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read イ

31 kanji share this on'yomiAll 31

Also read ヤ

6 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
蛇 snake · 它
vs蛍 lightning-bug · 𤇾
蛇 has 它 where 蛍 has 𤇾.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shé

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

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

Pinyin shé 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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