Meaning & readings
springtime, spring (season)
On’yomi シュン
Kun’yomi はる
Nanori あずま、かす、すの、ひ、わら
Origin
The kanji 春 combines two visual ideas to represent springtime. The top component 𡗗 suggests the image of plants or sprouts pushing upward with new growth, while the bottom component 日 represents the sun or a time period. Together, these elements evoke the season when the sun's warmth returns and vegetation begins to sprout and flourish after winter. This combination of growing plants and the warming sun naturally captures the essence of spring.
Components
- 𡗗
- 日
Common words
- 今春 こんしゅん this spring; spring this year
- 昨春 さくしゅん last spring; the spring of last year
- 春秋 しゅんじゅう spring and autumn; spring and fall
- 春先 はるさき beginning of spring
- 春闘 しゅんとう spring labor offensive; annual spring wage bargaining round
- 春分 しゅんぶん vernal equinox; spring equinox
- 青春 せいしゅん youth; adolescence
- 立春 りっしゅん first day of spring (according to the traditional lunisolar calendar, approx. February 4)
Easily confused with
These look alike but are unrelated in meaning — check the stroke that differs.
Reference
- Strokes
- 9
- Kangxi radical
- 72
- Formation type
- Compound ideographic (combined meanings)
- Grade
- Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
- Frequency rank
- #579 (newspapers)
- Former JLPT
- level 3
- Unicode
- U+06625