字 Kanji Decipher

Meaning & readings

west, Spain

On’yomi セイ、サイ、ス
Kun’yomi にし
Nanori いり、ひし、むら

Origin

This character most likely pictures a window or opening in a wall, shown as a rectangle with a vertical line dividing it in half. In ancient China, the sun was thought to set in the west, so a window facing that direction became associated with the west. Over time, the picture simplified into the squared-off shape we see today, and the meaning "west" stuck even as the visual connection to a window faded. The character eventually also came to refer to Spain (written as 西班牙 in Japanese, where 西 is the first character).

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

西 6 strokes

Components

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

Common words

  • 関西 かんさい Kansai (region comprising Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and surrounding prefectures)
  • 西瓜 すいか watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)
  • 西欧 せいおう Western Europe
  • 西口 にしぐち west entrance; west exit
  • 西側 にしがわ west side; west bank
  • 西南 せいなん south-west
  • 西部 せいぶ western part; the west (of a region)
  • 西風 にしかぜ west wind

Related kanji

Same radical

Reference

Strokes
6
Kangxi radical
146
Grade
Grade 2 (Kyōiku)
Frequency rank
#259 (newspapers)
Former JLPT
level 4
Unicode
U+0897F