kanji

American  

[kahn-jee] / ˈkɑn dʒi /

noun

plural

kanji, kanjis

1. a system of Japanese writing using Chinese-derived characters.

2. a character in this system.

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kanji British  

/ ˈkɑːn-, ˈkændʒɪ /

noun

1. a Japanese writing system using characters mainly derived from Chinese ideograms

2. a character in this system

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Etymology

Origin of kanji

1915–20; < Japanese < Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese hàn Han (i.e., China) + zì characters

Example Sentences

The company’s website already has a gallery of regrettable tattoos that includes badly drawn stars, an outline of the state of Oklahoma, Bad Bunny’s heart logo and lots of kanji, the Japanese characters that many Americans have inked into their skin.

From Los Angeles Times

In a closely watched event on Tuesday, the top Buddhist monk at the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto used a brush to write the kanji character of the year on the temple balcony.

From Seattle Times

The kanji meaning of “Yoko” translates as “Ocean Child,” befitting the woman who would travel across the breadth of two oceans as she made her way in the world as a budding conceptual artist — first, in 1940, when her family first left Tokyo for New York City, and later, in 1966, when she opened her "Unfinished Paintings" exhibition at London’s Indica Gallery.

From Salon

And after Ohtani tore his right UCL on Aug. 23, one fan showed up to see Ohtani continue to bat in a road series in New York against the Mets, with a sign that spelled “Ohtani” in kanji along with the words: “PLEASE USE MY LIGAMENT” in English.

From Los Angeles Times

Whereas English has just 26 letters, written Japanese consists of two sets of 48 basic characters, plus 2,136 regularly used Chinese characters, or kanji.

From Scientific American