Kanji Study
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Kanji Information Sheet for 首 ( 
PDF version )
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| English: neck | On-Yomi: シュ | Kun-Yomi: くび おびと こべ す |
Bushu (Radical) Info: 首 (くび) – neck
Henshall Mnemonic: chief has hair on head
Levels: JLPT N3 | JLPT 3 (old) | Grade 2
Frequency: #98 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers
Frequency: #98 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
JLPT N3 Words
- 首相 [しゅしょう]
(n) Prime Minister; Chancellor (Germany, Austria, etc.) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首都 [しゅと]
(n) capital city [K] [D] [Jisho]
JLPT N2 Words
JLPT N1 Words
- 自首 [じしゅ]
(n,vs) surrender; give oneself up [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首飾り [くびかざり]
(n) necklace [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首脳 [しゅのう]
(n) head; brains [K] [D] [Jisho] - 元首 [げんしゅ]
(n) ruler; sovereign [K] [D] [Jisho]
Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT
- 機首 [きしゅ]
(n) nose (of plane) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 足首 [あしくび]
(n) ankle [K] [D] [Jisho] - 縛り首 [しばりくび]
(n) (death by) hanging [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首位 [しゅい]
(n) first place; head position; leading position [K] [D] [Jisho] - 絞首刑 [こうしゅけい]
(n) death by hanging [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首唱 [しゅしょう]
(n,vs) advocacy; promotion [K] [D] [Jisho] - 一首 [いっしゅ]
(n-adv,n-t) poem [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首席 [しゅせき]
(n) top seat; first desk (in orchestra) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首長 [しゅちょう]
(n) head (of organization) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 乳首 [ちくび]
(n) nipple; teat [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首都圏 [しゅとけん]
(n) the capital city (often Tokyo) area (typically within 50 km of city's centre) [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首脳部 [しゅのうぶ]
(n) executives; top management [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首班 [しゅはん]
(n) head; leader; Prime Minister [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首尾 [しゅび]
(n) issue; course of events; beginning and end [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首謀 [しゅぼう]
(n) planning; plotting; ringleader [K] [D] [Jisho] - 首領 [しゅりょう]
(n) head; chief; boss; leader [K] [D] [Jisho] - 党首 [とうしゅ]
(n) party leader [K] [D] [Jisho]
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.