食
食 — Eat
eat, food
On’yomiショク (shoku)
On’yomiジキ (jiki)
Kun’yomiくう (kuu)
Kun’yomiくらう (kurau)
Kun’yomiたべる (taberu)
Kun’yomiはむ (hamu)
Stroke order (9 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 食
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 食事 | しょくじ shokuji | meal (e.g. lunch, dinner); diet |
| 食品 | しょくひん shokuhin | food; food products; foodstuffs |
| 食料 | しょくりょう shokuryou | food |
| 食糧 | しょくりょう shokuryou | food (esp. staple food such as rice or wheat); provisions; rations |
| 昼食 | ちゅうしょく chuushoku | lunch; midday meal |
| 飲食 | いんしょく inshoku | food and drink; eating and drinking |
Study notes
食 is a JLPT N5 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #328 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.