妻
妻 — Wife
wife, spouse
On’yomiサイ (sai)
Kun’yomiつま (tsuma)
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 妻
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 妻 | つま tsuma | wife; garnish (esp. one served with sashimi); trimmings |
| 夫妻 | ふさい fusai | husband and wife; married couple |
| 妻子 | さいし saishi | wife and children; wife |
| 稲妻 | いなずま inazuma | lightning; flash of lightning; lightning bolt |
| 人妻 | ひとづま hitozuma | married woman; another's wife |
| 愛妻 | あいさい aisai | beloved wife; cherishing one's wife |
Study notes
妻 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 8 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #691 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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