kana

American  

[kah-nuh, kah-nah] / ˈkɑ nə, ˈkɑ nɑ /

noun

1. a Japanese syllabic script consisting of 71 symbols and having two written varieties.

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kana British  

/ ˈkɑːnə /

noun

1. the Japanese syllabary, which consists of two written varieties See hiragana katakana

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Etymology

Origin of kana

1720–30; < Japanese; earlier kanna, kari-na makeshift names (i.e., characters) as opposed to ma-na true characters, i.e., kanji

Example Sentences

The second quake occurred at 7:05 a.m. in roughly the same area, just east of Kana Dume Road, and registered a magnitude 2.8.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2024

Halef Gunawan and his partner, Michael Demmons, sometimes take turns exploring while the other stays with their German shepherd, Kana.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 21, 2023

Two years ago, Kana Komatsubara, 26, started looking for an apartment so she could finally move out of her parents’ home in the suburbs of Tokyo.

From New York Times • Oct. 3, 2022

The way Kana Quest incorporates all of these different mechanics keeps the game from feeling like you are just doing the same puzzles repeatedly in different configurations.

From The Verge • Mar. 29, 2020

Niheu, seeing the defeat of Kana, called out, “Lay yourself along to Kona, on Hawaii, to your grandmother, Uli.”

From Hawaiian Folk Tales A Collection of Native Legends by Thrum, Thomas G. (Thomas George)