Kanji N1

掌: palm of hand, rule, administer

掌 is a JLPT N1 kanji meaning palm of hand, rule, administer, written with 12 strokes. It is read ショウ (on) and てのひら, たなごころ (kun). It is one of the jōyō kanji taught in secondary school. You will see it in 車掌 (しゃしょう, conductor) and 掌 (たなごころ, palm).

掌

Meanings

  • palm of hand
  • rule
  • administer
  • conduct
Strokes12
JLPT levelN1
School gradeSecondary school
Frequency#1757 of 2,500

On reading · Kun reading

On reading
  • ショウ

On'yomi: from Chinese, written in katakana. Used in compound words.

Kun reading
  • てのひら
  • たなごころ

Kun'yomi: native Japanese, in hiragana. The faint part is the okurigana, written in kana after the kanji.

Watch the stroke order

Every stroke in order, the live one in vermilion. Replay as often as you like.

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Now draw it

Trace each stroke in order. Wrong direction or wrong order gets flagged right away.

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Your turn: draw stroke 1 of 12. Start at the dot.

Common words with 掌

The most useful words written with it, easiest first. Every other kanji in them opens its own page.

  • 車掌しゃしょう

    (train) conductor

    JLPT N2
  • 掌たなごころ

    palm (of the hand)

    JLPT N1
  • 掌握しょうあく

    grasping; seizing; holding; commanding

  • 合掌がっしょう

    pressing one's hands together in prayer

  • 掌中しょうちゅう

    in the hand; (something) easily manipulated

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Stroke order from KanjiVG © Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0. Readings, meanings and words from KANJIDIC2 and JMdict, names from JMnedict, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata, CC0. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY.