殺
殺 — Kill
kill, murder, butcher, slice off, split, diminish
On’yomiサツ (satsu)
On’yomiサイ (sai)
On’yomiセツ (setsu)
Kun’yomiころす (korosu)
Kun’yomi-ごろし (goroshi)
Kun’yomiそぐ (sogu)
Kun’yomiあやめる (ayameru)
Stroke order (10 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 殺
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 殺人 | さつじん satsujin | murder; homicide; manslaughter |
| 殺す | ころす korosu | to kill; to slay; to murder |
| 自殺 | じさつ jisatsu | suicide |
| 暗殺 | あんさつ ansatsu | assassination |
| 虐殺 | ぎゃくさつ gyakusatsu | slaughter; massacre |
| 殺害 | さつがい satsugai | killing; murder |
Study notes
殺 is a JLPT N3 kanji written with 10 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #581 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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