Meaning & readings

people, nation, subjects

On’yomi ミン
Kun’yomi たみ
Nanori ひと、み

Origin

This character appears to be a simple pictograph showing a person or human figure in simplified form. The strokes suggest an upright body with a head, representing the basic idea of a human being. From this visual foundation of depicting an individual person, the meaning expanded to include larger groups—eventually referring to people as a collective body, subjects of a nation, or the nation itself. The shape is abstract enough that it works as a symbol for humanity in general rather than any specific person.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Pictographic or simple.

5 strokes

Components

This character is treated as a single, undivided shape (民).

  • meaning part

Common words

  • 移民 いみん immigration; emigration
  • 区民 くみん ward residents
  • 県民 けんみん resident of a prefecture; citizen of a prefecture
  • 公民 こうみん citizen
  • 国民 こくみん people (of a country); nation
  • 市民 しみん citizen (of a country); citizenry
  • 住民 じゅうみん inhabitant; resident
  • 庶民 しょみん common people; ordinary people

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
83
Grade
Grade 4 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#28 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 3
Unicode
U+06C11