What is the Kanji for "Spirit" and "Refine"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Spirit" and "Refine", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Spirit" and "Refine" is "精".

This kanji has 2 readings:

Its onyomi readings are "Shou" and "Sei".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The kanji "米" means "Rice" and can be read as "Mai", "Bei", and "Kome". And The kanji "青" means "Blue" and can be read as "Ao", "Shou", and "Sei".

Now, let's make sure you understand this kanji the other way around too.

What does the kanji "精" mean in japanese?

"精" means "Spirit" and "Refine".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Fifth Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N3 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

精神: "Mind". The Japanese noun '精神 (せいしん)' refers to the mind, spirit, psyche, or mental faculties of a person. It encompasses concepts like one's thoughts, feelings, emotions, and overall mental state. This word is often used in the context of mental health, psychology, and philosophy. For example: A healthy mind is important - (健全な精神は大切だ). He has a strong spirit - (彼は強い精神を持っている).

精: "Spirit" or "Energy". The noun '精 (せい)' can have two main meanings. The first meaning is 'spirit', referring to the vital force, vitality or essence of something. This can be used to describe a person's mental and emotional state, such as one's spirit or motivation. The second meaning is 'energy', referring to the physical or mental strength and effort put into an activity. For example: He tackles his work with great spirit - (彼は仕事に熱心な精を注ぐ). This festival is full of energy - (このお祭りは精いっぱいの活気に溢れている).

精々: "At most". The adverb '精々 (せいぜい)' means 'at most'. It is used to express the most or the highest degree that something can reach. It implies that there is a limit or constraint on the extent of something. For example: I can only do it at most once a week - (週に１回精々できる). I'll try my best, but I can only manage it at most. - (精々頑張るしかできません).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "し" is read as "shi". The hiragana "う" is read as "u". The hiragana "せ" is read as "se". And The hiragana "い" is read as "i".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.