Meaning & readings
exist, outskirts, suburbs, located in
On’yomi ザイ
Kun’yomi あ.る
Nanori あり
Origin
The character 在 combines soil or earth (土) with a sound component (才) that hints at its pronunciation. The soil radical suggests the meaning is related to physical location or place, which led to the sense of "being located" or "existing" in a particular spot. Over time, this developed into the broader meanings of "exist" and "be present," while the sound component helped speakers remember how to pronounce the character.
Common words
- 介在 かいざい existing (between); interposition
- 健在 けんざい in good health; alive and well
- 顕在 けんざい being actual (as opposed to hidden or latent); being apparent
- 現在 げんざい the present; present time
- 在外 ざいがい overseas; abroad
- 在学 ざいがく attending (school, college, etc.); being enrolled
- 在庫 ざいこ stock; inventory
- 在住 ざいじゅう residing; living
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 6
- Kangxi radical
- 32
- Formation type
- Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint)
- Grade
- Grade 5 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #211 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 2
- Unicode
- U+05728