孤
孤 — Orphan
orphan, alone
On’yomiコ (ko)
Kun’yomi—
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 孤
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 孤児 | こじ koji | orphan; person without friends |
| 孤立 | こりつ koritsu | isolation; being alone; being friendless |
| 孤独 | こどく kodoku | solitude; loneliness; isolation |
| 孤児院 | こじいん kojiin | orphanage |
| 孤島 | ことう kotou | solitary island; isolated island |
| 孤高 | ここう kokou | aloof; proudly independent; standing apart |
Study notes
孤 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 9 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1239 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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