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N3

Kanji 太: meanings, readings, and example words.

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Kanji 太: plump, thick, big around

Key takeaways

Kanji 太: plump, thick, big around. Readings and core meaning.

See vocabulary and examples below.

Kanji at a glance

N3

Meaning

plumpthickbig around

On reading

タイ

Kun reading

ふと.いふと.る

Radical

Core meaning / core image

Core meaning: 太

plump, thick, big around

Kanji structure breakdown

Structure breakdown

大 + 丶

Mnemonic story

Mnemonic story

An extra dot (丶) was added to the character for 'big' (大) to emphasize an extreme size. This represents something that is very thick, plump, or even bigger than just big.

On'yomi and kun'yomi

On reading

タイ
  • 太鼓たいこ

    drum / percussion instrument

  • 太陽たいよう

    sun / solar star

Kun reading

ふと.い
  • 太るふとる

    to become fat

  • 太いふとい

    thick / fat / wide

Commonly used words

  • 太鼓
    たいこ

    drum / percussion instrument

  • 太陽
    たいよう

    sun / solar star

  • 太る
    ふとる

    to become fat

  • 太い
    ふとい

    thick / fat / wide

Example sentences

Example 1

祭りで鼓をたたきました。

Translation

I played the drum at the festival.

Example 2

鼓の音が遠くから聞こえる。

Translation

The sound of drums can be heard from afar.

Example 3

陽が東からのぼった。

Translation

The sun rose from the east.

Example 4

陽の光で植物が育つ。

Translation

Plants grow by sunlight.

Kanji 太: plump, thick, big around | Daily Nihongo