字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

acknowledge, witness, discern, recognize, appreciate, believe

On’yomi ニン
Kun’yomi みと.める、したた.める

Origin

This character combines the component for "words" or "speech" on the left with a sound hint on the right that suggests the "nin" pronunciation. The left side signals that this character has to do with verbal communication or statement, while the right component provides a phonetic clue rather than adding meaning. Together, the shape conveys the idea of stating or declaring something in words — essentially, to acknowledge or recognize something through speech or testimony. Over time, the meaning broadened to include the mental act of recognizing or discerning, not just the verbal part.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).

認 14 strokes

Components

  • 言 radical left
  • 忍 sound hint right

A sound hint component points at the character’s pronunciation, not its meaning — don’t read a meaning into it.

Common words

  • 確認 かくにん confirmation; verification
  • 誤認 ごにん misrecognition; mistaking (x for y)
  • 公認 こうにん official recognition; official approval
  • 承認 しょうにん recognition; acknowledgement
  • 是認 ぜにん approval; approbation
  • 認可 にんか approval; license
  • 認識 にんしき recognition; awareness
  • 認証 にんしょう certification; attestation

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
14
Kangxi radical
149
Grade
Grade 6 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#198 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+08A8D