減
減 — Dwindle
dwindle, decrease, reduce, decline, curtail, get hungry
On’yomiゲン (gen)
Kun’yomiへる (heru)
Kun’yomiへらす (herasu)
Stroke order (12 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 減
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 削減 | さくげん sakugen | cut; reduction; curtailment |
| 減税 | げんぜい genzei | tax reduction |
| 減少 | げんしょう genshou | decrease; reduction; decline |
| 減益 | げんえき geneki | decrease in profits |
| 減速 | げんそく gensoku | deceleration |
| 軽減 | けいげん keigen | abatement; reduction |
Study notes
減 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 12 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 5), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #261 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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