貝 — shellfish, shell
かい
貝
shellfish
かい
U+8C9D
Unicode hex codepoint — a unique identifier for this character in the Unicode standard.
Freq #1787
Frequency rank among the ~2,500 most common kanji in Japanese newspapers. Lower number = more common.
Heisig #54
Index in James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" — a popular textbook that teaches kanji through mnemonics and stories.
Radical #154
Remember 貝
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Meanings
- shellfish
- shell
Readings
- On'yomi
- ばい bai
- Kun'yomi
- かい kai
word
かい ・がい kai Kun'yomi Kun'yomi (訓読み) — the native Japanese reading of this kanji. Used when the kanji appears alone or with okurigana (trailing hiragana).
Words by frequency and grade
4 wordsEach dot is a word containing 貝: further left is more common, higher up needs a later school grade (the grade of its hardest kanji). Click a dot to open the word.
S = secondary school · 4 words have no frequency rank; they sit in the Unranked column.
Components
Atomic component This kanji has no further breakdown — it's a primitive building block used to compose others.
Used as component in (40)
かい
買
buy
いん
員
member
ふ
負
defeat
ひ
費
expense
しょう
賞
prize
はい
敗
failure
か
貨
freight
ためる
貯
savings
しする
資
assets
しつ
質
substance
ざい
財
property
せめる
責
blame
ぼう
貿
trade
そく
則
rule
さん
賛
approve
かし
貸
lend
が
賀
congratulations
まずしい
貧
poverty
ちん
賃
fare
き
貴
precious
はん
販
marketing
こう
購
subscription
こう
貢
tribute
おくる
贈
presents
つらぬく
貫
pierce
かしこい
賢
intelligent
ばい
賠
compensation
くさり
鎖
chain
まかなう
賄
bribe
てい
貞
upright
ひん
賓
v.i.p.
かける
賭
gamble
ぞく
賊
burglar
うた
唄
song
たまわる
賜
grant
はる
貼
stick
ぷ
賦
levy
ろ
賂
bribe
どん
貪
covet
ぜい
贅
luxury
Compound ideograph (会意). 目 (eye, here the shell's oval shape) above 八 (legs/opening). A shellfish. Cowrie shells were ancient currency, so 貝 appears in many money-related kanji.