起 — how to write the kanji for “rouse”
起 means “rouse”, “wake up” and “get up”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 374th most used kanji. KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 5 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts sit one inside another: 走 (“run”, its radical), strokes 1–7; 己 (“self”), strokes 8–10, each finished before the next. Read ki, it forms 起訴 (“prosecution”), 起用 (“appointment…”) and 提起 (“raising (a question)”); the native reading o-kiru gives 起こす (“to raise”). Chinese reads it qǐ, “to rise”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 10
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 走 (“run”)
- On
- キ
- Kun
- お·きる, お·こる, お·こす
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑leftdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒leftdown and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏bottom leftrightwards
- Horizontal-turn ㇕toprightwards → downwards
- Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
- Vertical-curve-hook ㇟centerdownwards → rightwards
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (10 strokes in Japanese, 10 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- キ ki
- Kun (native)
- お·きる o-kiru, お·こる o-koru (rare), お·こす o-kosu (rare), おこ·す oko-su (rare), た·つ ta-tsu (rare)
- Meanings
- rouse; wake up; get up
- Read ki
- 起訴 起用 提起 決起 躍起 発起人
- Read o-kiru
- 起こす
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 374th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 기 gi
- Common words
- 35 in JMdict
Words with 起
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 起訴 | きそ kiso | prosecution; indictment |
| 起用 | きよう kiyou | appointment (to a position, job, etc.); being used for a role |
| 提起 | ていき teiki | raising (a question); posing (a problem) |
| 決起 | けっき kekki | rising to action; standing up against |
| 躍起 | やっき yakki | desperate; frantic |
| 発起人 | ほっきにん hokkinin | originator; promoter |
| 起こす | おこす okosu | to raise; to raise up |
| 起源 | きげん kigen | origin; beginning |
| 起草 | きそう kisou | drafting; drawing up |
| 不起訴 | ふきそ fukiso | nonprosecution; nonindictment |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: