# kana

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɑːnə/ · frequency rank #36,210

## Definitions
1. The hiragana and katakana syllabaries. These are made up of characters that represent individual syllables, which are used to write Japanese words and particles. Kana are derived from kanji.
2. A hiragana or katakana character.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 仮名(かな) (kana, “phonetic character”, literally “borrowed character”, from the way that kana were originally Chinese characters "borrowed" for their phonetic values).

## Easily confused with
- **ken** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-ken)
- **kay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kay)
- **kin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kin)
- **kat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kat)
- **KIA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kia)
- **kun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kun)
- **kar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kar)
- **KDA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kda)
- **kya** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kya)
- **kno** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kno)
- **kind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kind)
- **king** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-king)
- **Kong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kong)
- **Kate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kate)
- **khan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-khan)
- **Kent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kent)
- **Karl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-karl)
- **Kane** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kane)
- **Katy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-katy)
- **kang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kang)

## Common misspellings (5)
`akna`, `kaan`, `kanna`, `kkana`, `knaa`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/kana