芽
芽 — Bud
bud, sprout, spear, germ
On’yomiガ (ga)
Kun’yomiめ (me)
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 芽
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 芽 | め me | sprout; shoot; bud |
| 発芽 | はつが hatsuga | germination; sprouting; budding |
| 萌芽 | ほうが houga | germination; germ; sprout |
| 芽生える | めばえる mebaeru | to bud; to sprout; to arise |
| 麦芽 | ばくが bakuga | malt |
| 新芽 | しんめ shinme | sprout; bud; shoot |
Study notes
芽 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 4), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #1691 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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