聖
聖 — Holy
holy, saint, sage, master, priest
On’yomiセイ (sei)
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiひじり (hijiri)
Stroke order (13 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 聖
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 棋聖 | きせい kisei | great master of go; great master of shogi |
| 聖域 | せいいき seiiki | sacred precincts; sanctuary; consecrated ground |
| 聖書 | せいしょ seisho | Bible; the Scriptures; Holy Writ |
| 聖地 | せいち seichi | sacred place; holy ground; the Holy Land |
| 聖戦 | せいせん seisen | holy war; crusade |
| 聖火 | せいか seika | sacred fire; sacred flame; Olympic flame |
Study notes
聖 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1165 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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