hiragana

American

[heer-uh-gah-nuh, hee-rah-gah-nah] / ˌhɪər əˈgɑ nə, ˈhi rɑˈgɑ nɑ /

noun

the cursive and more widely used of the two Japanese syllabaries.

hiragana British

/ ˌhɪərəˈɡɑːnə /

noun

one of the Japanese systems of syllabic writing based on Chinese cursive ideograms. The more widely used of the two current systems, it is employed in newspapers and general literature Compare katakana

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hiragana

1815–25; < Japanese, equivalent to hira ordinary (earlier f ( y ) ira < *pira ) + -gana, combining form of kana kana

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Hiragana is made up of 46 base characters that are often used as particles or to inflect verbs and adjectives.

From The Guardian • Jun. 5, 2017

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023