# kanji

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkænd͡ʒi/ · frequency rank #28,601

## Definitions
1. The system of writing Japanese using Chinese characters.
2. Any individual Chinese character as used in the Japanese language.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 漢字(かんじ) (kanji, “Chinese characters”), from Middle Chinese 漢 (MC xanH, “Han dynasty, China”) + Middle Chinese 字 (MC dziH, “[written] character”) (Compare Korean 한자 (hanja), Mandarin 漢字 /汉字 (hànzì), Vietnamese Hán tự, Hokkien 漢字 /汉字 (hàn-jī / hàn-lī), Cantonese 漢字 /汉字 (hon³ zi⁶)). Doublet of hanja and Hanzi.

## Easily confused with
- **kano** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-kano)
- **Kant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-kant)
- **Kari** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-kari)
- **koji** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-koji)
- **Kanye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-kanye)
- **Kauai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-kauai)
- **Kenji** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kanji-vs-kenji)
- **kai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kai-vs-kanji)
- **kan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kan-vs-kanji)
- **Kane** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kane-vs-kanji)
- **kang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kang-vs-kanji)
- **kali** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kali-vs-kanji)
- **kami** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kami-vs-kanji)
- **kana** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kana-vs-kanji)
- **kaiju** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kaiju-vs-kanji)
- **Kandy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kandy-vs-kanji)

## Common misspellings (7)
`aknji`, `kajni`, `kanij`, `kanjji`, `kannji`, `kkanji`, `knaji`

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