Meaning

Primary

Character Dictionary

Alternative

Kanji Dictionary

Word Type

noun

Explanation

Letter rules can be found in a character dictionary. In Japanese, one kanji "letter" or "character" can hold a lot of information, so you have dictionaries dedicated to kanji meanings. That's what this is.

This word is a little old-fashioned these days, so you might also see 漢字辞典 used for a character dictionary. (You'll learn 辞典 soon, if you haven't already!)

Reading

じてん
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you'll know how to read this as well.

Context

Pattern of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • 英和字典

    English-Japanese dictionary

    漢和字典

    kanji and kanji compound dictionary with Japanese definitions

    漢字字典

    kanji dictionary

Context Sentences

コウイチは、ぬれた字典について、ビエトにせつ明を要求しました。

Koichi demanded an explanation about the wet character dictionary from Viet.

とつ然大雨になったので、手でもっていた字典がびしょぬれになっちゃったんです。

It suddenly started pouring rain and the kanji dictionary I was holding got soaking wet.

この書道字典はあそこの古本屋で買ったんです。

I bought this calligraphy character dictionary at a secondhand bookstore over there.

Kanji Composition