The kanji 命: meaning, readings and stroke order

命

Meaning: life
On reading: メイ mei、ミョウ myou
Kun reading: いのち inochi
Strokes: 8
Radical: 口 mouth, opening
Level: Level 3 · grade 3

Stroke order

Meaning in other languages

Vietnamese: mạng sống (mệnh)
Japanese: いのち。
Korean: 목숨, 생명 (명)
Chinese: 生命

Readings, words and example sentences

メイ mei · on reading

生せい命めい
life
生せい命めいを大切にします。
We treasure life.

ミョウ myou · on reading · less common

寿じゅ命みょう
lifespan, how long a thing lasts
この品は 寿じゅ命みょうが長いです。
This thing lasts a long time.

いのち inochi · kun reading

命いのち
life
命いのちは一つしかありません。
You only have one life.

Practise writing 命 in the app

In Dino Kids your child writes 命 with a finger and every stroke is checked, then takes the Level 3 practice test. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.

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Readings, radicals: Kanjium, KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); strokes: KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); Korean, simplified forms: Unicode Unihan. Meanings, sentences: Dino Kids (CC0). See Licences.