礼
礼 — Salute
salute, bow, ceremony, thanks, remuneration
On’yomiレイ (rei)
On’yomiライ (rai)
Kun’yomi—
Stroke order (5 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 礼
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 礼 | れい rei | thanks; gratitude; manners |
| 謝礼 | しゃれい sharei | reward; honorarium; remuneration |
| 礼拝 | れいはい reihai | worship (esp. Christian); (church) service |
| 儀礼 | ぎれい girei | courtesy; etiquette; formality |
| 礼儀 | れいぎ reigi | manners; courtesy; etiquette |
| 洗礼 | せんれい senrei | baptism; christening; initiation (into a society, group, etc.) |
Study notes
礼 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 5 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1185 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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