字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

mask, face, features, surface

On’yomi メン、ベン
Kun’yomi おも、おもて、つら
Nanori お、ずら、ほおつき、も

Origin

The character 面 most likely started as a picture of a face or mask seen straight-on. The square outline represents the overall shape of a face, while the internal strokes suggest the eyes and other facial features. Over time, the character became more stylized and abstract, but the basic rectangular frame still echoes that original front-facing view. Because a face is the most visible and recognizable surface of a person, the character came to mean not just "face" but also the broader sense of "surface" or "features" — anything that forms an outer appearance.

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

面 9 strokes

Components

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

Common words

  • 一面 いちめん one face; one surface
  • 仮面 かめん mask
  • 画面 がめん screen (of a TV, computer, etc.)
  • 海面 かいめん sea level; (surface of) sea
  • 外面 がいめん outer surface; outside
  • 額面 がくめん face value; par
  • 顔面 がんめん face (of person)
  • 局面 きょくめん position in a game; state of the game

Reference

Strokes
9
Kangxi radical
176
Grade
Grade 3 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#186 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 2
Unicode
U+09762