禁
禁 — Prohibition
prohibition, ban, forbid
On’yomiキン (kin)
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 禁
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 禁止 | きんし kinshi | prohibition; inhibition; ban |
| 解禁 | かいきん kaikin | lifting a ban; raising an embargo; opening a season (hunting, fishing, etc.) |
| 禁煙 | きんえん kinen | abstaining from smoking; quitting smoking; prohibition of smoking |
| 独禁法 | どっきんほう dokkinhou | antitrust law; Antitrust Act |
| 禁輸 | きんゆ kinyu | embargo |
| 禁止法 | きんしほう kinshihou | negative statute; law against something |
Study notes
禁 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #681 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.