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

stroke order illustration  
English:
utmost
most
extreme
On-Yomi:
サイ
シュ
Kun-Yomi:
もっと.も
つま
Bushu (Radical) Info:
日 (にち) – sun
曰 (にち) – sun
Henshall Mnemonic: take most sun when it's at its highest point
Levels: JLPT N3 | JLPT 2 (old) | Grade 4
Frequency: #82 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 N4 Words

  •   [さいしょ]
    (adj-no,n-adv,n-t) beginning; outset; first; onset   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいきん]
    (adj-no,n-adv,n-t) latest; most recent; nowadays   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいご]
    (n) last; end; conclusion   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N3 Words

  •   [さいちゅう]
    (n-adv,n) in the middle of; height of; in course of; midst   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいてい]
    (adj-na,adv,n) (1) least; lowest; worst; (2) nasty; disgusting; horrible; yuck!   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • も   [もっとも]
    (adv) most; extremely   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいこう]
    (adj-na,n) highest; supreme; the most   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいしゅう]
    (n) last; final; closing   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N1 Words

Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT

  •   [さいしゅうてき]
    (adj-na) finally   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいじゅうてん]
    very important point   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいしょう]
    (n) smallest; least   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいしょうげん]
    (n) minimum; lowest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいしょう]
    (n) smallest; minimum; least   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいじょう]
    (adj-na,n) best   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいしん]
    (n) latest; newest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいせいき]
    (n) golden age; best time for   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいせんたん]
    (adj-no,n) ultra-fine   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいぜんせん]
    (n) foremost line   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいぜんれつ]
    front row   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいた]
    (n) the most   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいだい]
    (n) greatest; largest; maximum   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいだいげん]
    (n) maximum   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいたん]
    (n) shortest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいちょう]
    (n) the longest; the oldest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいていげん]
    (n) minimum   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいてき]
    (adj-na,n) optimum; the most suitable   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいねんしょう]
    (adj-no) youngest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいゆうぐう]
    most favourable treatment; very warm reception   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいりょう]
    (adj-na,n) the best; ideal   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [まっさいちゅう]
    (n-adv,n) midst; middle of; height of   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいあく]
    (adj-na,n) the worst   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [さいか]
    (adj-na,n) the lowest; the worst   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • り   [もより]
    (adj-no,n) nearest; neighbouring; nearby   [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.