Kanji Library
KanjiJLPT N1 › 蛍

蛍 — Lightning-bug

JLPT N111 strokesSecondary school#2031 most used
lightning-bug, firefly
On’yomiケイ (kei)
Kun’yomiほたる (hotaru)

Stroke order (11 strokes)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).

Common words using 蛍

WordReadingMeaning
ほたる
hotaru
firefly (Luciola cruciata); lightning bug; glowworm
蛍光灯けいこうとう
keikoutou
fluorescent lamp; fluorescent light; person who is slow to react
蛍光けいこう
keikou
fluorescence

Study notes

蛍 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #2031 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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