Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

面: mask, face

Also: features, surface

JLPT N39 strokesGrade 3Your ink: 白 Not met
9 strokes
  • Oracle bone · Shang
  • Small seal · Qin
  • Today

Oracle bone and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Four readings, and the words that use each

メンmen · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 表面ひょうめんsurface
  • 両面りょうめんboth sides
  • 場面ばめんscene
  • 洗面所せんめんじょwashroom
  • 直面するちょくめんするconfront
  • 面接するめんせつするinterview [v.t.]
  • 面倒くさいめんどうくさいtroublesome

おもomo · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 面白いおもしろいinteresting

おもてomote · kun'yomi

  • 面おもてface

つらtsura · kun'yomi

  • 面つらface [derogatory]
  • 仏頂面ぶっちょうづらsour look
  • 字面じづらtypeface

Also read ベン, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Origin · sourced

Pictogram (象形)

Pictogram (象形), A man’s face, with an eye exaggerated, derived from 𦣻. The horizontal stroke was added later.

Source: Wiktionary, 面 (rev. 92937046), CC BY-SA 4.0

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“The base kanji for the human face or the calculated surface area and aspect of a physical geometric shape.”
From the 面 face story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered

Also read メン

3 kanji share this on'yomi

Also read ベン

4 kanji share this on'yomi
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · miàn

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

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

Pinyin miàn 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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