敬
敬 — Awe
awe, respect, honor, revere
On’yomiケイ (kei)
On’yomiキョウ (kyou)
Kun’yomiうやまう (uyamau)
Stroke order (12 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 敬
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 敬称 | けいしょう keishou | honorific title; honorific term of address |
| 敬意 | けいい keii | respect; honour; honor |
| 尊敬 | そんけい sonkei | respect; esteem; reverence |
| 敬遠 | けいえん keien | pretending to respect (someone) while in fact staying distant; keeping at arm's length; giving a wide berth |
| 敬う | うやまう uyamau | to show respect for; to revere; to honour |
| 敬具 | けいぐ keigu | yours sincerely; sincerely yours; yours truly |
Study notes
敬 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1078 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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