集 — how to write the kanji for “gather”
集 means “gather”, “meet” and “congregate”; it is a JLPT N4 kanji, taught in third grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 210th most used kanji. KANJIDIC2 gives it 1 on reading and 3 kun readings, so the word decides how you say it. Its parts sit stacked: 隹 (“short-tailed bird”, its radical), strokes 1–8; 木 (“tree”), strokes 9–12, each finished before the next. On its own it is the word shuu, “collection; compilation”. Its common words take the reading shuu: 編集 (“editing”), 集会 (“meeting”), 集団 (“group”) and 集中 (“concentration (on a task)”). Chinese reads it jí, “to gather”, at HSK 5.
- Strokes
- 12
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 隹 (“short-tailed bird”)
- On
- シュウ
- Kun
- あつ·める, つど·う, あつ·まる
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑topdownwards
- Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
- Horizontal ㇐bottom leftrightwards
- Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒bottomdown and left
- Right-falling stroke ㇏bottomdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (12 strokes in Japanese, 12 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- シュウ shuu
- Kun (native)
- あつ·める atsu-meru, つど·う tsudo-u, あつ·まる atsu-maru (rare)
- Meanings
- gather; meet; congregate; swarm; flock
- Read shuu
- 編集 集会 集団 集中 募集 収集
- School year
- third grade
- Newspaper rank
- 210th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 집 jip
- Common words
- 43 in JMdict
Words with 集
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 編集 | へんしゅう henshuu | editing; compilation |
| 集会 | しゅうかい shuukai | meeting; assembly |
| 集団 | しゅうだん shuudan | group; mass |
| 集中 | しゅうちゅう shuuchuu | concentration (on a task); focusing one's attention |
| 募集 | ぼしゅう boshuu | recruitment; invitation |
| 収集 | しゅうしゅう shuushuu | collecting; accumulating |
| 特集 | とくしゅう tokushuu | feature; special edition |
| 召集 | しょうしゅう shoushuu | convening; calling together |
| 結集 | けっしゅう kesshuu | concentration; gathering together |
| 集計 | しゅうけい shuukei | totalization; totalisation |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: