字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

life, genuine, birth

On’yomi セイ、ショウ
Kun’yomi い.きる、い.かす、い.ける、う.まれる、うま.れる、う.まれ、うまれ、う.む、お.う、は.える、は.やす、き、なま、なま-、な.る、な.す、む.す、-う
Nanori あさ、いき、いく、いけ、うぶ、うまい、え、おい、ぎゅう、くるみ、ごせ、さ、じょう、すぎ、そ、そう、ちる、なば、にう、にゅう、ふ、み、もう、よい、りゅう

Origin

The character 生 appears to be a simple pictograph showing a plant or seedling sprouting from the ground. The lower strokes represent the earth or soil, while the upper strokes depict a young shoot growing upward. This image of new growth naturally came to mean "life" and "birth," since plants are among the most visible examples of living things beginning and developing. Over time, the character expanded to include meanings like "genuine" or "raw," likely because something newly born or grown is in its natural, unprocessed state.

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

生 5 strokes

Components

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

Common words

  • 衛生 えいせい hygiene; sanitation
  • 往生 おうじょう passing on to the next life
  • 回生 かいせい resurrection; resuscitation
  • 学生 がくせい student (esp. a university student)
  • 寄生 きせい parasitism
  • 共生 きょうせい coexistence; living together
  • 原生 げんせい primeval; primordial
  • 厚生 こうせい welfare; public welfare

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
5
Kangxi radical
100
Grade
Grade 1 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#29 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 4
Unicode
U+0751F