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Kanji Information Sheet for 食  ( PDF version of this Kanji PDF version )

stroke order illustration  
English:
eat
food
On-Yomi:
ショク
ジキ
Kun-Yomi:
く.う
く.らう
た.べる
は.む
ぐい
Bushu (Radical) Info: 食 (しよく) – food
Henshall Mnemonic: covered food good for eating
Levels: JLPT N5 | JLPT 4 (old) | Grade 2
Frequency: #328 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Common Words and/or Phrases Using this Kanji:

Click any individual kanji to view a similar information sheet for it.
Click [K] to look up the word's individual character(s) at WWWJDIC.
Click [D] to look up the word at WWWJDIC (definition is the same but other useful features exist).

Click [Jisho] to look up the word at Jisho.org.

JLPT N5 Words

  •   [しょくどう]
    (n) cafeteria; dining hall   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • べる   [たべる]
    (v1) to eat   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [たべもの]
    (n) food   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N4 Words

JLPT N3 Words

  •   [ちゅうしょく]
    (n) lunch; midday meal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくたく]
    (n) dining table   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくひん]
    (n) commodity; foodstuff   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくもつ]
    (n) food; foodstuff   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくよく]
    (n) appetite (for food)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくりょう]
    (n) food   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくりょう]
    (n) provisions; rations   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • う   [くう]
    (v5u) (male) (vulg) to eat   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N2 Words

  •   [しょっき]
    (n) tableware   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [いしょくじゅう]
    (n) necessities of life (food, clothing, etc.)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくえん]
    (n) table salt   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N1 Words

  •   [きゅうしょく]
    (n,vs) school lunch; providing a meal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ていしょく]
    (n) set meal; special (of the day)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • う   [くいちがう]
    (v5u) to cross each other; to run counter to; to differ; to clash; to go awry   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しゅしょく]
    (n) staple food   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT

  •   [しんしょく]
    (n,vs) infringement; violation   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくご]
    (n-t) after a meal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • める   [くいとめる]
    (v1) to check; to hold back   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくせいかつ]
    (n) eating habits   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [へんしょく]
    (n) unbalanced diet   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくちゅうどく]
    (n) food poisoning   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ししょく]
    (n) sampling food   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ゆうしょく]
    (n) evening meal; dinner   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくどう]
    (n) esophageal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくにく]
    (n) meat (for consumption)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくひ]
    (n) food expense   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくひんてんかぶつ]
    (n) food additive   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ふしょく]
    (n) corrosion   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくよう]
    (n) for use as food; edible   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [だんじき]
    (n,vs) fasting   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [いんしょく]
    (n) food and drink; eating and drinking   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [いんしょくてん]
    (n) restaurant; shops serving food and drink   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょくりょうちょう]
    food agency   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ようしょく]
    (n) Western-style meal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [にくしょく]
    (n) meat diet   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [げっしょく]
    (n) lunar eclipse   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ほうしょく]
    (n) gluttony; satiation; engorgement   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいしょく]
    (n) vegetable diet   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [かんしょく]
    (n) eating between meals; snacking   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [わしょく]
    (n) Japanese-style meal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
Find more details for at jisho.org, Yookoso! or WWWJDIC

Acknowledgments

The sofware used to generate this kanji information uses the EDICT and KANJIDIC files. These files are the property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group at Monash University and are used in conformance with the Group's license.

NOTE: I converted the sources just mentioned years ago and have never really updated so there may be some missing or incorrect information that has been addressed in the original sources but not here.

The first Stroke Order image used on this page is courtesy of Ulrich Apel's excellent open source KanjiVG project. The second image is from the folks at the excellent Jisho Japanese-English dictionary site and it too is based on KanjiVG.

Classifying the kanji and popular vocabulary by the new JLPT levels was done by consulting Jonathan Waller‘s JLPT Resources page, renshuu, Wictionary, and Nihongo Ichiban.

The Henshall Mnemonics are the copyright of Tuttle Publishing and are the result of the hard work by Professor Henshall. See the list I used here.

If you are curious about the lexicography shown in the word definitions, visit the WWWJDIC abbreviations and codes guide and the JMdict/Edict Lexicographical details page.