禅
禅 — Zen
Zen, silent meditation
On’yomiゼン (zen)
On’yomiセン (sen)
Kun’yomiしずか (shizuka)
Kun’yomiゆずる (yuzuru)
Stroke order (13 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 禅
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 禅 | ぜん zen | dhyana (profound meditation); Zen (Buddhism) |
| 座禅 | ざぜん zazen | zazen (seated Zen meditation, usu. in a cross-legged position) |
| 禅寺 | ぜんでら zendera | Zen temple |
| 禅宗 | ぜんしゅう zenshuu | Zen (Buddhism) |
| 友禅染め | ゆうぜんぞめ yuuzenzome | type of dyeing method or pattern; silk printed by the Yuzen process |
| 禅僧 | ぜんそう zensou | Zen priest |
Study notes
禅 is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 13 strokes. It is taught at secondary-school level in Japan. Ranked #1902 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.