How to say 'Shell' or 'First' in Japanese | 甲

Wondering how to say 'Shell' or 'First' in Japanese? You're in the right place!

The Japanese word for Shell or First is 'Kou', written as 甲 in Japanese.'Shell' or 'First' in hiragana is こう.

word

甲

Meaning

Shell, First

Reading

こう

kou

Kanji

甲Armor, Shell

Explanation

The Japanese noun '甲 (こう)' has two distinct meanings. The first meaning refers to the shell of a turtle or tortoise, often used in traditional contexts or literature. For example: the turtle's shell is hard「亀の甲は硬い」(かめのこうはかたい). The second meaning is 'first' in a sequence, such as in the traditional ordering system (甲, 乙, 丙, etc.), which is similar to 'A, B, C' in English. For example: this is the first item「これは甲の項目です」(これはこうのこうもくです). The word is also used in compound words like '甲羅 (こうら)' (shell) or '甲乙 (こうおつ)' (first and second).

Part Of Speech

noun

Kanji JLPT

Kanji Grade

Frequency

6257

Composition

kanji

Handwriting

Kanji in the Word 甲

This word contains 1 kanji character:

kanji

甲

Meaning

Armor, Shell

Learn the Word 甲

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What does 'Kou' (甲) mean?

'Kou' means 'Shell' or 'First' .

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