僧
僧 — Buddhist priest
Buddhist priest, monk
On’yomiソウ (sou)
Kun’yomi—
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 僧
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 僧 | そう sou | monk; priest; sangha (the Buddhist community) |
| 小僧 | こぞう kozou | youngster; boy; kid |
| 僧侶 | そうりょ souryo | priest; monk; bonze |
| 尼僧 | にそう nisou | Buddhist nun; Catholic nun; sister |
| 高僧 | こうそう kousou | high priest; highly ranked priest; virtuous priest |
| 僧堂 | そうどう soudou | temple meditation hall or certain other temple structures |
Study notes
僧 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1724 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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