Meaning

Primary

Equal

Alternatives

The Same, Equivalent, Similar

Word Type

い adjective

Explanation

This is a single kanji with an on the end, meaning you know it's probably an adjective. What's the adjective form of equal? It's equal (and also similar or equivalent). That "similar" one is a bit weird, because "similar" is not equal, though I'd lean more towards equal.

Reading

ひとしい
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you: What should be equal above all things? I think each person (ひと) should be equal!

Context

Context Sentences

そんなに平等にこだわるなら、全社員の仕事りょうを等しくするべきです。

If you really care about equality, you should make all the workers' workloads equal.

左の金玉と右の金玉の重さって等しいと思いますか?

Do you think the left and right balls are equal in weight?

オタクだけではなく他の人にとっても、ネット上で大文字を使うことは大声を出すことに等しいですよ。

Even for people who aren’t nerds, using uppercase letters on the internet is equivalent to shouting.

Kanji Composition