妹 · younger sister

JLPT N5 kanji. Readings, meaning, and how the character is built.

妹 means younger sister. It is a JLPT N5 kanji written in 8 strokes, read いもうと or まい. It combines 女 (woman, female), which carries the meaning, with 未, which is there for its sound まい.

筆順 · Stroke order

妹 is written in 8 strokes, in the order numbered below. Order matters: it is what makes handwriting legible, and it is how the character is looked up in a paper dictionary.

解字 · What it is made of

妹 breaks into 2 parts.

• 女 semantic woman, female · left carries the meaning
• 未 phonetic un-, not yet · right carries the sound

Words that use 妹

Word	Reading	Meaning
妹	いもうと	younger sister (humble)

Characters that share 未

未 tends to carry the sound まい. They carry it; they do not all mean the same thing.

	Reading	Meaning
未	まい	un-, not yet
妹	まい	younger sister
昧	まい	dark, foolish

Built from the same parts

These use 女 or 未 too. The part keeps its job from one character to the next, which is what makes it worth learning once.

• 姉older sister
• 好like
• 始to start
• 味taste

Practise 妹

Sumi teaches the character before it tests you: stroke order animated, the breakdown above shown as a pull-apart X-ray, then spaced review. Free, in your browser, no signup.

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