Meanings
- once upon a time
- antiquity
- old times
Strokes8
JLPT levelN3
School gradeGrade 3
Frequency#1197 of 2,500
Kanji N3
昔: once upon a time, antiquity, old times
昔 is a JLPT N3 kanji meaning once upon a time, antiquity, old times, written with 8 strokes. It is read セキ, シャク (on) and むかし (kun). Children in Japan learn it in grade 3. You will see it in 昔 (むかし, the old days) and 昔話 (むかしばなし, old tale).
昔
On reading · Kun reading
On reading
- セキ
- シャク
On'yomi: from Chinese, written in katakana. Used in compound words.
Kun reading
- むかし
Kun'yomi: native Japanese, in hiragana. The faint part is the okurigana, written in kana after the kanji.
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0 / 8
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Common words with 昔
The most useful words written with it, easiest first. Every other kanji in them opens its own page.
- 昔むかしJLPT N4
the old days; the past; former times
- 昔のままむかしのまま
the way it was; the way it used be; as of old
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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; the Spanish meanings they lack, translated by Naraio from their English, are shared under the same licence. Example sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR. JLPT lists after Jonathan Waller (tanos.co.uk), CC BY. Sentences split into words with IPADIC © NAIST and IPA, through Lindera.