墨
墨 — Black ink
black ink, India ink, ink stick, Mexico
On’yomiボク (boku)
Kun’yomiすみ (sumi)
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 墨
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 墨 | すみ sumi | sumi; India ink; Chinese ink |
| お墨付き | おすみつき osumitsuki | certificate; certified document; authorization |
| 入れ墨 | いれずみ irezumi | tattoo (esp. a traditional Japanese one); tattooing |
| 水墨画 | すいぼくが suibokuga | India-ink painting; ink wash painting |
| 墨絵 | すみえ sumie | ink painting |
| 墨書 | ぼくしょ bokusho | writing in India ink |
Study notes
墨 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 14 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1616 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).
🔊 Tap the big kanji, any reading or any example word to hear it.