被
被 — Incur
incur, cover, veil, brood over, shelter, wear
On’yomiヒ (hi)
Kun’yomiこうむる (koumuru)
Kun’yomiおおう (oou)
Kun’yomiかぶる (kaburu)
Kun’yomiかぶせる (kabuseru)
Stroke order (10 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 被
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 被告 | ひこく hikoku | defendant; the accused |
| 被害 | ひがい higai | (suffering) damage; injury; harm |
| 被害者 | ひがいしゃ higaisha | victim; injured party; sufferer |
| 被災 | ひさい hisai | suffering (from a disaster); being hit (by an earthquake, typhoon, etc.); falling victim (to) |
| 被爆 | ひばく hibaku | being bombed; being subjected to a nuclear bomb attack; being exposed to radiation from a nuclear bomb |
| 被告人 | ひこくにん hikokunin | accused; defendant; prisoner at the bar |
Study notes
被 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 10 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #431 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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