始
始 — Commence
commence, begin
On’yomiシ (shi)
Kun’yomiはじめる (hajimeru)
Kun’yomi-はじめる (hajimeru)
Kun’yomiはじまる (hajimaru)
Stroke order (8 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 始
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 開始 | かいし kaishi | start; commencement; beginning |
| 始まり | はじまり hajimari | origin; beginning; start |
| 終始 | しゅうし shuushi | beginning and end; doing something from beginning to end; being unchanged from beginning to end |
| 年始 | ねんし nenshi | beginning of the year; new year; New Year's call |
| 始末 | しまつ shimatsu | management; dealing with; settlement |
| 始める | はじめる hajimeru | to start; to begin; to commence |
Study notes
始 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 3), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #244 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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