脳
脳 — Brain
brain, memory
On’yomiノウ (nou)
On’yomiドウ (dou)
Kun’yomiのうずる (nouzuru)
Stroke order (11 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 脳
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 首脳 | しゅのう shunou | head; leader; top |
| 脳 | のう nou | brain; brains; mind |
| 脳死 | のうし noushi | brain death |
| 頭脳 | ずのう zunou | head; brains; intellect |
| 脳卒中 | のうそっちゅう nousocchuu | stroke; cerebral haemorrhage; cerebral hemorrhage |
| 脳裏 | のうり nouri | one's mind |
Study notes
脳 is a JLPT N2 kanji written with 11 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 6), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #459 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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