増
増 — Increase
increase, add, augment, gain, promote
On’yomiゾウ (zou)
Kun’yomiます (masu)
Kun’yomiまし (mashi)
Kun’yomiふえる (fueru)
Kun’yomiふやす (fuyasu)
Stroke order (14 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 増
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 増加 | ぞうか zouka | increase; rise; growth |
| 増税 | ぞうぜい zouzei | tax increase |
| 増殖 | ぞうしょく zoushoku | increase; multiplication; propagation |
| 急増 | きゅうぞう kyuuzou | rapid increase; sharp rise; proliferation |
| 増大 | ぞうだい zoudai | enlargement; increase |
| 増強 | ぞうきょう zoukyou | reinforcement; augmentation; strengthening |
Study notes
増 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #231 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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